COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CARE IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the legal provision of maternal and child health care in the member states of the European Union (EU). The relevance of the study lies in the analysis of modern European approaches to the regulation of maternal and child health care, as well as in determining the possibilities of adapting positive experience for states that have embarked on the path of European integration. The methodological basis of the study is a complex of general scientific and special legal methods. As a result of the study, it has been established that the legal regulation of maternal and child health care in the EU is based on a combination of unified standards of EU law and national models of their implementation. At the same time, it has been found that despite the presence of common European standards in the field of health care, there are differences in access to medical services, social protection systems for pregnant women and mothers, ensuring reproductive rights, as well as in indicators of maternal and perinatal mortality in EU countries. The problems of unequal access to medical care, especially for migrants, refugees and socially vulnerable groups of the population, have been identified. It has been concluded that the effectiveness of maternal and child health care systems largely depends on the following factors: legal guarantees, a developed system of social protection for women, effective functioning of the health care system and access to medical services. The generalization of the experience of EU member states made it possible to identify the most effective models of legal regulation and organization of medical care, which can be used in the formation of state policy and improvement of legislation in states aspiring to EU membership.