ROCKFORD, Ill., June 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family & Demography Foundation, which represents World Congress of Families in Russia and the CIS – and is the organizer of the "Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and The Future of Humankind" (June 29-30) – has announced the launch of its latest project: The Life-Family Medical Centers Network.

Medical Pregnancy Centers will be opened in all of the major cities in Russia and the CIS.  The first 30 include centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, Odessa, Kiev, and Minsk. In some cities, multiple centers are planned.

The centers will be the first national network of modern, state-of-the-art medical facilities that will provide a complete range of services in obstetrics and post-natal care. The centers – which will never perform abortions, as a matter of principle – will also operate as crisis pregnancy centers.

Physicians, other medical personnel and activists are invited to apply for a position at one of the centers online at www.worldcongress.ru.  Information on the project will also be available at the Moscow Demographic Summit (June 29-30) at the Russian State Social University.

The Family and Demography Foundation is led by two Russian Orthodox priests – Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov and Archpriest Maxim Obukhov – who for 20 years have been tirelessly preaching the Biblical view of the sanctity of human life. The Foundation is managed on a day-to-day basis by Alexey Komov, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Moscow Demographic Summit.

World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs commented: "These Life-Family Medical Centers will truly be a blessing to Russian mothers and their children. It has been estimated that there are as many as four abortions for every live birth in Russia today.  Alexey Komov and his colleagues have gone well beyond the intellectual realm to take direct action to save Russian children and serve Russian families. May their efforts meet with growing success!"  

Women in Russia will benefit the most from the new Life-Family Medical Centers that will help eliminate abortion and reduce rates of cancer, depression, suicide, miscarriages, infertility and maternal mortality.  Russian women have long suffered from the health effects and trauma of abortion.  Dr. Byron Calhoun, Professor and Vice-Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of West Virginia, National Medical Advisor for National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and board member of The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, commented, "The real issue regarding maternal mortality in maternity care rests in the lack of trained and skilled birth attendants with access to emergency or higher levels of care.  Abortion is not safe; actually has higher rates of maternal mortality when compared by appropriate gestational age controls; is associated with increased risk for breast cancer (in first pregnancies ending in elective abortion); is associated with increased risk for preterm birth by 30-60%; is associated to increased risk for death by all causes; and is associated with significantly increased risk for psychological damage (including suicide and major depression)."

At the Moscow Demographic Summit, June 29-30, speakers such as Dr. Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, Dr. Robert L. Walley, founder of MaterCare International, and many others with experience in offering pregnancy and medical support services will be available to help inform and train Russian pro-life leaders and medical professionals.

For the website of the Moscow Demographic Summit (in English and Russian), including registration information, go to: www.worldcongress.ru.

For More Information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org.  To schedule an interview with WCF Managing Director Larry Jacobs contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com or Lisa Youngblood at 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI will be held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.

For More Information, Contact: Don Feder at 508-405-1337,  dfeder@rcn.com or Lisa Youngblood at 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org

SOURCE The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society