Newborns’ health and survival largely determine the prospects for demographic development of territories and reflect the degree of their socio-economic well-being. The implementation of federal and regional targeted programs and projects has made significant progress in improving the quality and accessibility of medical services for pregnant women and newborns. At the same time, the population’s demand has increased against the background of the pro-natalist demographic policy. In the case of cohort of children born in spring of 2020 in the Vologda Oblast, the research shows the relationship between the health of infants and their mothers. The authors analyze the availability and quality of medical services for pregnant women. Some aspects are considered in comparison with the data for 2014. The researchers demonstrate how the socio-demographic profile of families with newborns changed in the region between 1995 and 2020. The information base is data from the cohort monitoring research “Study of conditions for the formation of a healthy generation” that the FSBIS VolRC RAS has conducted since 1995. On the one hand, the characteristics of new cohort of families, recruited in 2020, demonstrate the demand for pro-natalist measures implemented in the country and the region. On the other hand, they indicate the emergence and actualization of new challenges for the healthcare system. The latter include, first of all, the necessity to improve the algorithm for managing complex multiple pregnancies initiated by the use of assisted reproductive technologies. Despite the quarantine measures in the region in spring of 2020, the authors prove that the medical care quality remained high for pregnant women. The availability of certain parameters of medical care has decreased compared to 2014. The research data indicate that the regional system of obstetric and gynecological care has generally coped with the pandemic, but has a number of unresolved problems. They are related to the lack of qualified specialists and the necessary medical equipment to manage complex pregnancies
Keywords
reproductive health, newborns’ health, cohort research, availability and quality of medical services