Ukrainian Mothers Are Being Forced To Give Birth In Hospital Basements Due To Russian Bombing Attacks
Amid Russian shelling, Ukrainian mothers are being forced to give birth in makeshift maternity hospitals in basements.
Amid Russian shelling, Ukrainian mothers are being forced to give birth in makeshift maternity hospitals in basements.
The basements of maternity hospitals across Ukraine have been set up as bomb shelters and nurseries, following Russia’s attacks on civilian areas.
In Kyiv, more than 80 babies were born in improvised bomb shelters in the two nights after Russia began its invasion, according to local authorities, the Guardian reported.
An image of a newborn child in the shelter was shared on Twitter by Hanna Hopkinson, a former Ukrainian MP.
The child, Mia, was born in a “stressful environment-bombing of Kyiv,” Hopkinson wrote. However, she said the mother was happy to overcome the challenge, adding “We defend lives and humanity!”
Several hospitals have shared videos of the makeshift bomb shelters on social media.
Newborn babies were carried to basements from intensive care unit at a hospital in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine.
“This is our reality,” the chief of the neonatal unit at a hospital in Dnipro said.
In Kharkiv, mothers cared for their newborn at a maternity ward, where mattresses were piled against the windows for protection.
In Luhansk, a woman gave birth to a boy the basement of Starobilsk Multidisciplinary hospital amid firing from Russian forces outside.
“In the basement of the maternity hospital, in conditions far from those that a new life deserves – a loud cry of a newborn … Boy!,” the hospital shared on Facebook.
