"Can't believe that survived": journalists told how Ukrainians give birth during the war

About it writes The New York Times. It is reported that children born before the term are more prone to the development of respiratory, neurological and digestive complications. Those who are born particularly premature can have serious physical and mental health problems. According to journalists, after more than a year of war, official statistics on maternal health in Ukraine are scanty. Many pregnant women, especially health problems, have been evacuated to other countries.

However, doctors from the regions that are close to the front line stated that premature birth rates have increased greatly. You also have to do caesarean section more often. According to 58-year-old Lyudmila Sudzhuk, who works as the head of one of the hospitals of Nikolaev, the course of pregnancy in women began to be much more difficult. "Usually the birth of a new person is happiness, and now anxiety," she added.

According to her, the efforts of protecting pregnant women from the tension of war have become a priority, as medical staff are trying new ways to distract patients from the sounds of war outside. "We said that shelling is a fireworks in honor of the birth of their children," Sudzhuk said. The publication writes that in the hospital, which is managed by Sudzhuk, the number of caesarean sections and premature births increased by 5%.

Journalists spoke with the young mother of Amina Tsa, who gave birth to two twin girls in Nikolaev. The woman was not affected by the shelling of the city, but because of stress, she had vision problems and water retention occurred. After the emergency caesarean section, during which she lost a lot of blood, she had to make two transfusions. Her daughters were born 6 weeks earlier. Even lying on the operating table, a woman heard the sounds of explosions and shots outside the window.

Tsoi accuses the war of her pregnancy to such a trial, although at the beginning of a full -scale invasion everything took place normally. Then, as reported, the man drove his mother and children to the border with Moldova to keep them safe. Journalists write that she and children are now renting a house near Odessa. Her daughters are healthy, but lag behind normal physiological indicators of her age. "I still can't believe that I survived," the woman told reporters.