March 18, 2025

"How Are You, Still Haven´t Given Birth Yet?"


"How Are You, Still Haven´t Given Birth Yet?"
A pregnant woman stands in front of a window. The Russian Life files.

On March 13, Moscovites were presented with a giant pink road sign that read, "How are you, still haven't given birth yet?" The Moscow Department of Health's latest campaign started at a time when Russia is not only facing a demographic crisis, but also cracking down on reproductive rights.

In the pink ad, the word rodila (gave birth) appears with the "o" in the shape of a heart, but the campaign is far from a friendly invitation. According to Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, the birthrate in Russia is at a "terribly low level," with 1.4 births per woman. This is comparable to Japan and many European countries. Casualties in the invasion of Ukraine and the emigration of Russians have further fueled the demographic crisis. Peskov said that the way to solve this problem was to "increase the average birth rate." In other words, to urge women to give birth.

It's not the first time the government has incentivized women to give birth. In 2019, the show "Pregnant at 16" was aired on official state television. It was a copy of the American reality TV show "16 and Pregnant," and aimed at encouraging teens to "make the right choice" and keep their pregnancies.

Russian officials have also targeted abortion. Since August 2024, it has been illegal to buy abortion-inducing pills without a prescription. The Chairpairson of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, said that doctors that dissuaded patients from getting an abortion would be awarded bonuses. Meanwhile, the Ryazan Regional Duma proposed a law that would fine doctors who "induced" abortion. Therefore, any healthcare provider who mentioned any way to end a pregnancy would be penalized.

While Russia pushes for its women to give birth, the cost of living index has not gotten better. Food prices have increased by over 50 percent. The maximum benefits a woman can receive in a year and a half is R68,995 ($809), which is comparable to renting a cheap one-bedroom apartment in Moscow for a month. 

You Might Also Like

Fleeting Freedom
  • March 16, 2025

Fleeting Freedom

A Ural journalist was released from jail, only to be re-arrested.
Women's Rights in Wartime
  • March 04, 2025

Women's Rights in Wartime

Women's rights activists face increased pressure and reduced domestic violence resources in Russia.
Frontline Sex, Moscow Prices
  • February 11, 2025

Frontline Sex, Moscow Prices

Russian sex workers have flocked to the frontlines of Ukraine to satisfy soldiers' growing demand.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955