Last year, we became more. And that matters.

I read an article on Yle that stayed with me. Not because it was dramatic, but because it said something quiet yet important about our region.

In Western Uusimaa, where the population is largely declining, more children were nevertheless born last year in Hanko, Raseborg and Siuntio. And Siuntio was also the only municipality where the population actually increased.

It may sound like small numbers. A few children here, a few residents there. But to me, this is not just statistics. It is a sign of confidence in the future. A sign that people still dare to plan their lives, start families and think: we can stay here.

After several years of low birth rates, this development is anything but self-evident. On the contrary. That more children are being born, both in Uusimaa and in Finland overall is something we should meet with both humility and responsibility. Because children are not born in a vacuum. They are born into a society that either supports them or fails them.

And that is precisely why this also feels unsettling. At the same time as more children are coming into the world, women’s healthcare and maternity services have been among the first to face cutbacks when finances have tightened. That sends the wrong message. It says: we are glad you are having children, but you will have to make do with less.

Healthcare needs investment now and in the future. Of course, we cannot simply look backwards and long for how things were a few years ago. But we also cannot stand still, and certainly not continue down a path where cuts repeatedly hit women’s healthcare and maternity care the hardest.

That is why we must speak up clearly. Healthcare across the entire region must maintain equal quality. Women’s healthcare is not a marginal issue. It must not be further weakened, especially not when the need is growing and when the statistics clearly show the direction we are heading in.

That Siuntio is growing is nothing we can take for granted. It is a sign of trust. Proof that people believe in the future here. Our task as decision-makers is to manage that trust wisely: to stand up for services, safety and healthcare that hold when life is at its most vulnerable and to work for development that allows the whole municipality to flourish.

More children do not just mean more residents.They mean more reasons to make the right political choices. Now.