Birth Rates Are Falling – Control Is Increasing: russia to Launch a Register of the Pregnant

russia’s  authorities continue to tighten control over the private lives of citizens – from cameras on roads and streets and digital communications to the reproductive sphere. On March 1, russia will launch a federal registry of the pregnant, which will contain data on all women who have registered by the 12th  week of pregnancy.

The registry will contain information from public and private medical institutions: pregnancy terms, use of assisted reproductive technologies, presence of diseases, as well as data about the child – gender, weight, place and date of birth, including information about possible congenital anomalies. The ministry of healthcare of the rf  has been entrusted with maintaining the database.

The kremlin consistently cites demographics as one of the priorities of state policy, despite the fact that birth rates continue to fall. In March 2025, the average daily number of newborns fell to about 3,000 – the lowest level in russia in the 21st  century.

Against this background, authorities have also reduced the publication of detailed regional statistics on mortality and birth rates, which, according to researchers, complicates independent analysis of the demographic situation.

Authorities of the rf are increasingly interfering in all spheres of citizens’ lives. As a result, russians are increasingly finding themselves in a system where privacy is becoming conditional while the state has the tools to influence virtually every stage of a person’s life.