Ukraine crisis: Premature babies born into war as deliveries forced to take place in hospital basement

‘I’m incredibly sad,’ doctor says, ‘babies are going to die because they cannot live in these conditions’

As women are forced to give birth in the basements of hospitals in war-torn Ukraine, health officials have raised fears that not all newborn babies can survive in such conditions.

Devastating images coming out of the Eastern European nation show the makeshift wards being used after medical staff work tirelessly to convert basements of maternity hospitals – all the while, using them as bomb shelters.

Most at risk are premature babies, who require special medical attention in their first few days, weeks or even months of life.

More than 1,000 babies are born in Ukraine per day, according to data from research platform Macrotrends. Of those, around 100 will need some form of neonatal intensive care.

Footage from one perinatal care unit in Kyiv, published by ITV News, showed parents and their newborns crammed into a small, at times dimly lit, underground space.

At one point, a man is filmed attending to a tiny baby in an incubator.

The machine beeps momentarily as he reaches for some medical equipment, then the clip cuts to night time where nurses and parents can be seen sat underneath what looks like the building’s water or gas pipes.

Speaking to the broadcaster, Dr Olena Kostiuk, a neonatologist associate professor in Ukraine’s capital city, described how the basement unit was set up in just a few days.

“It’s usually a technical room for water, for electricity and heating... never, never, ever is this space used in this way,” she said. “Very sick babies, babies which we cannot move... they permanently live in the basement.”

Pregnant women and newborn babies in the basement of a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward, and used as a bomb shelter during air raid alerts in Kyiv (AP)

Clearly frustrated, and upset, Dr Kostiuk said plainly that “babies are going to die … because they cannot live in these conditions”.

“I’m incredibly sad,” she added, “for myself the biggest problem is, I don't know when it's going to finish and how long our pregnant women, our babies delivered in a basement, our babies have no normal support.”

Over in the city of Zhytomyr, as reported by The Independent earlier today, staff of the maternity ward at Pavlusenko hospital – all taking cover under Russian missile fire – helped a pregnant woman who had started giving birth on the floor of the bomb shelter after the shock of a nearby explosion sent her into labour.

Medical workers show a newborn baby to a woman who gave birth in a maternity hospital basement converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine (AP)

It came after an airstrike in the city on Tuesday which struck a military base just 200 metres away from the hospital, seriously damaging multiple wards.

Among those worst hit was the maternity wing, where 45 women and 15 newborn babies were being cared for at the time. All were subsequently evacuated to the basement, where they remain.

The Russian strike on Zhytomyr, in Ukraine’s northwest, also hit a residential area and killed at least two people, emergency services said afterwards.

Dr Cora Doherty, a neonatologist speaking on behalf of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM), said she had seen the footage from Kyiv’s perinatal centre and was concerned the babies’ care was being compromised.

Pregnant women and newborn babies in the basement of a maternity hospital in Kyiv (AP)

“We know that if babies do not get the proper care around the time at birth, that particularly if they're ill, there is an increased risk of death in those babies,” she told ITV News.

And she added: “That’s essentially the, you know, the future denigrate generation there. So, it is really, really important that we support both these mothers and their babies in their plight.”

Four “loud explosions” were heard in the centre of Kyiv late on Wednesday night, with the Kyiv Independent taking to Twitter to advise its readers to take cover in their “nearest shelter” at around 1.45am local time (11.45 GMT).

A woman holds her newborn baby inside a basement used as a bomb shelter at the Okhmadet children's hospital in central Kyiv (AP)

It came as Russian troops appeared to take “complete control” of Kherson, the first major city to be captured during Vladimir Putin’s war.

Igor Kolykhayev, Kherson’s mayor, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the Black Sea port had been lost.

He urged the Kremlin’s soldiers not to shoot at civilians and publicly called on Ukrainians to walk through the streets only in daylight and with no more than one other person.

The places Ukrainian refugees are seeking shelter (Press Association Images)

Cars will only be allowed to enter the city to bring food and medicine and other essentials. They must drive at minimum speed and be prepared to stop to be searched by Russian troops, he said.

Mr Kolykhayev added: “Ukrainian flag above us. And to keep it the same, these requirements must be met. I have nothing else to offer yet.”

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