Bulgaria's battered economy has taken its toll upon Mother's House. Lights are missing in the corridors, broken window glass has been substituted with cheap plastic, and paint is chipping from the walls.

Patients are advised to bring their own nightgowns and sheets. Most also bring medicine, since reserves often run low. Birthing aides such as epidurals are considered a luxury as nurses regularly tell women in labor to "hold on, you [want] to remember the time you became a mother."

Ivanka, a single mother, recalled that when the time came to go to the hospital she was too distressed to bring the required items. "At the maternity ward they gave me a night gown. The morning after the birth I had broken out into pimples. Other women told me it was because of the dirty gown. If it was not for the food they [family and friends] brought me from home, I would have starved."

Petya Hristova, a 33-year-old blonde, who had her second daughter last September, was also warned to bring medicines, syringes and needles. She didn't mind since she describes herself as financially secure, but even she could not escape the swarms of cockroaches who inhabit the maternity ward.

Motherhood has never been so difficult in Bulgaria. The dismal state of the economy has greatly affected the national birthrate. Demographers predict that in a couple of decades, Bulgaria's population of about 8.5 million will slump by a million people. In 1997, there were only 60,000 births and double the number of abortions. Only 40,000 births are expected for 1998. Couples simply can no longer afford the high cost of raising a family.

"The large family that used to be the model some 40, 50 years ago is history," said Yassen Kalaydjiev, a gynecologist. "Now Bulgarians know they cannot [provide], even with the greatest efforts, for more than one or two kids."

It is a startling change from communism when a high birthrate was encouraged as more children meant more workers and more soldiers. There were also certain ethnic considerations. Communists here feared that ethnic Turks and gypsies were increasing in population faster than the majority Bulgarians of Orthodox Christian heritage.

Procreation was encouraged not only through restricted access to contraception, but also by a "bachelors' tax," levied on single people over age 25. In contrast, families with more than two children received preferential loans and other bonuses.

But all that has changed. Many of the day care centers built under communism have been closed because of low enrollment. However, rather than raising national concern, the low birthrate is being applauded as a way to help resolve a number of economic problems. Doctors say the slump has made it easier for them to cope with treating patients under deteriorated hospital conditions.

The end of communism has left Bulgaria's economy in dire straits. As both ex-communists and their adversaries search for a middle ground between socialism and capitalism, industry has been left to rot. An economy that simply stopped working was further devastated by a choking embargo on neighboring Serbia. Bulgarian exporters lost not only a market, but a route to Europe. Since 1989 Bulgaria experienced a thousand-fold inflation. The average monthly wage is about US$180 on which one has to pay 30 percent in taxes.

Government subsidies have dwindled, especially in health care. Under communism, citizens enjoyed free medical care for virtually everything, including having children. Now women must pay a fee of 50,000 to 75,000 lev (US$27.40) to hospitals for deliveries. Tipping doctors has a become routine way to ensure decent care.

Once the baby leaves the maternity ward, the real problems begin. The initial investment in medicine, diapers, blankets, bottles and a carriage amounts to 1 million lev (US$600) -- a virtual fortune here. Moreover, now mothers are only guaranteed their full wages for five months after birth -- instead of the three years they once enjoyed.

The story of Fani and Nikolay Ivanova has become typical. The couple married, had a child, and made a good living working in advertising. After inflation skyrocketed, their savings were lost within days. They had to sell an apartment at loss. And they had to give up their dream of having a second child.

"It... it just turned out that way," Fani says. She cannot add anything. Her eyes are full of tears.

Families with more than two children are so rare they have become a media spectacle. Raime and Yussuf became famous in their hometown of Haskovo after giving birth to triplets after their first child. Officials generously talked of providing an apartment and some special funding. But all the family received was a total US$500 worth of assistance for three years. It's far from enough. Currently Yussuf is unemployed, as the furniture-making plant where he works has no orders. Raime, a tall, blonde seamstress can make up to US$150 a month, when there are contracts. Last month she brought home only US$15. Electricity bills alone amount to US$20 per month. They joke that their family cow is raising the children.

The situation is harder for the many single mothers here struggling on one income. Four out of every ten children are born out of wedlock. Abortion remains a popular form of contraception, another legacy of communism during which there was virtually no sex education and "abortion is cheaper than the coil," was a popular phrase.

"In the communist era, the government concentrated on measures to assure high birth rates, and contraception was neglected, if not discouraged, " said Emil Phillipov, a gynecologist. "This is something we have to deal with now."

It is now easier to get condoms and other contraceptives in Bulgaria, although their cost makes them prohibitive to many.

For many Bulgarian women nothing compares to motherhood. As the spring comes early to the Blagoevgrad region, locals do not miss the chance to bask in the sunshine. The Bachinovo park is filled with mothers. One can see them pushing babycarts, jogging with older children and even trying soccer kicks with them.

"Bulgarian mothers are very good, loving and caring," said Kalaydjiev. "The problem is they are poor."