5,200 babies born to single mothers since 2007

Health Minister Joseph Cassar yesterday told Parliament that during the first quarter of this year, 311 babies had been born to single mothers.

Answering a question by Noel Farrugia (PL), Dr Cassar said this compared to a total of 5,267 babies born to 5,201 single mothers since 2007. The largest number of babies born – 1,044 – was in 2011. As for nationality, 4,714 mothers were Maltese, 458 foreign and the rest, 29, were of unknown nationality.

The news came as the House Family Affairs Committee got to know that there were 31 cases of pregnancies involving girls aged up to 16 last year, and a case, in the past few years, where a school girl got pregnant at 13 and again at 15.

The statistics were given by Micheline Sciberras, responsible for the management of the Directorate for Educational Services, and Sandra Cortis, service manager for the Education Psycho-Social Services.

There were 74 teenage pregnancies (up to 16 years old) in 2008, 43 in 2009, 47 in 2010, 31 last year and 27 so far this year. In cases of girls aged 16 and over, in 2008 there were 117, down to 64 in 2011. So far in 2012, 34 babies have been born to young mothers falling in this age group.

Dr Sciberras said the number of teenage mothers who opted to continue their studies was low, most girls choosing to leave school as soon as their pregnancy became apparent. However, there were some cases where a few girls returned to the classroom and even continued post-secondary education.

The authorities, she said, offered services to prevent schoolgirls from getting pregnant and also offered support to their parents.