About 14.4 percent of municipalities in Japan had cases in which mothers were denied care after giving birth, a survey recently showed, underscoring the country's need to address the issue as it tries to reverse its declining birthrate.
The rate of rejection for reasons including a shortage of care facilities was even higher in municipalities with a population of 200,000 or more at 43.0 percent, according to the survey commissioned by the government and conducted last fall by Nomura Research Institute.
With the number of babies born in Japan in 2022 falling below 800,000 for the first time since records began in 1899, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has established the expansion of postpartum care services as one of its pillars of the effort to turn around the declining birthrate.
In a multiple-answer question asking reasons for the refusal, 31.1 percent of the respondents answered "facilities for them were fully occupied."
Other notable answers included the mothers, "had people supporting them," and the mothers sought to use the service "for the sake of taking a rest or having others look after their children."
The survey was conducted in September and October targeting 1,741 cities, wards, towns and villages, of which 1,183, or 67.9 percent, provided valid responses.
About 90 percent of municipalities offered postpartum care services, in which midwives and other specialists provide breastfeeding guidance and childcare advice to ease the physical and mental strain on women after childbirth, it showed.
A total of 67.5 percent of local governments made mothers and children stay overnight at facilities and 55.5 percent had a system of home visits.
Those that did not provide care gave reasons including being "unable to find an outsourcing company."
The survey also found some 54.5 percent of municipalities set conditions for residents to use the services, such as having a mental or physical illness, keeping in line with the central government's current guideline that instructs local authorities to provide the service to those "in need of support."
The Children and Families Agency, established in April to handle child-related issues, plans to revise the guideline so that those who wish to use the services can freely do so and address other issues.
"We will expand the target to be subsidized for arranging care facilities and urge prefectural governments to help small municipalities find contractors," said an agency official.
