Browsing by Subject "Family policy"

This thesis investigates parental experiences on preterm birth, hospital care, and social support in Russia. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to dire economic decline and created extensive social problems in Russia. Two simultaneous issues occurred: low life expectancy and low fertility rate, which drastically decreased the nation’s population. This consequently led to a worsening demographic situation as the dependency ratio was unstabilised. Russian Federation started to combat the problem by incentivising the birth rate via financial benefits and pronatalist policies aiming to improve maternal and hospital services. Out of total live births in Russia in 2018, six and a half per cent were preterm births. The percentage is quite substantial from the demographic perspective and makes it worth investing in preterm care. The main research questions of this thesis are “What kind of support parents of preterm children receive in Russia in terms of benefits, healthcare, and social services, how parents evaluate these and what did they expect to get?” This study aims to understand how Russian social and family policies have evolved, starting mainly from 2006 when the national priority projects began and what is their impact on preterm care. The nature of the study is qualitative, and its primary resource are eight semi-structured interviews conducted in March 2021, including seven Russian mothers with preterm children and one expert in the field of preterm care. A theoretical framework is built around welfare regimes, Russian social and pronatalist policies. Interviews are analysed with an approach of phenomenological and thematic analysis. A lot has improved and on a positive note, births – be it preterm or full-term – are free in Russia. Nevertheless, the main results of this research showed that preterm care is having a lack of family centredness and medical staff is expected to be more emotionally supportive. Most of the infants were separated from their parents for long periods, which can be detrimental for both. Regarding post-discharge care, all parents used private services, as for various reasons, there appeared to be distrust towards public healthcare. This thesis describes the struggles parents in Russia experience when having preterm children and ends with potential topics for further studies.