Abortion ban the reason for Malta's high infant mortality rate, ministry says

Malta’s total ban on abortion is the reason behind Malta’s high infant mortality rate, the Health Ministry has said in a reaction to Eurostat statistics published last week.

According to the figures, Malta, together with Romania, had the highest infant mortality rate, with 6.7 deaths for every 1,000 births, significantly higher than the EU average of 3.6.

The lowest mortality rate was registered in Cyprus (1.3) and Finland (2.0).

The ministry clarified that the statistics did not distinguish between babies born with a birth defect and those born healthy

“In many European countries, mothers carrying babies suspected of having a birth defect are referred for abortion. This does not happen in our country,” the ministry said.

It added that as a result, statistics from foreign countries did not include such cases, and was the reason they had such a low mortality rate.

“Obviously, babies with a birth defect are at far greater risk of dying than those born healthy,” the ministry said.  

It said that a 2015 analysis had found that roughly half (45.9%) of babies that died in Malta between 2009 and 2013 had a birth defect.

“If one were to analyse the figures and subtract the same proportion of babies born with a birth defect, the mortality rate is closer to 3.6 for every 1,000 live birth, exactly equal to the European average,” the ministry said.