Nearly half of all women admitted during the Ukraine War gave birth in basements.
Mykolaiv:
It is 6:00 p.m. when the horrifying wail of sirens sounds over the city of Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine. Very calmly, holding the pregnant belly with both hands, the sisters slowly descended two floors to the basement of the 3rd maternity hospital.
Without saying a word, they sat still on beds in the makeshift, windowless ward.
They had only been in the hospital in Mykolaiv for two or three days but they were used to it. Seven women are about to give birth in a city where war strikes without warning.
Natalia Reznikova, a 30-year-old redhead, is expecting her third child. Another baby boy.
“I didn’t panic,” she said as she carefully made her way down the stairs. “I just wish I didn’t give birth in that basement.”
In a nearby room littered with paperwork, three new mothers settle down with their newborn baby.
Natalia, who declined to give her last name, guarded her first child, Maria, who arrived less than 24 hours ago.
She was exhausted but radiant in a blue evening gown.
When the air raid alarm went off, she was on her way back to her room on the second floor, helped by her teammate Oleksander.
“We are happy parents,” the young couple smiled.
Natalia considers herself lucky. She avoids having to give birth in an underground labor ward.
The hospital staff went to great lengths to make the delivery room seem welcoming.
Besides the two beds equipped with surgical braces, there is also a sofa and a soothing bubble fish tank.
Alina Bondarenko is in it with her partner. Her water just broke.
“In peacetime, this area is used by plumbers and technicians. Four or five days ago we had two women give birth here at the same time,” said hospital chief doctor Andriy. Grybanov said.
He recalls with touching precision how much newborn babies weigh – “5.18 kg and 5.4 kg”.
Ghost of Mariupol
When the sirens sounded and the shelling began, the officers didn’t always have time to get the women down to the basement.
So they gave birth in the second floor hallway. “Between two walls,” said Dr. Grybanov. “It’s just a little bit safer.”
The operating room, where doctors deal with problematic deliveries and caesarean sections, is located on the fourth floor of the building.
“But it’s really risky because we need the light and then we become the target,” he continued.
Of the 49 babies that hospital staff have delivered since Russia invaded Ukraine, only three have been delivered by caesarean section.
Almost half of the women admitted since 24 February have had to give birth in the basement.
Mykolaiv has been under attack for days. The city blocked the Russian coastal route to the strategic Black Sea port of Odessa, and invading forces were pouring all their energy into this final barrier.
“The health ministry advised us to put a big red cross on the roof of the hospital. But we saw what would happen,” said Dr. Grybanov. “There is not a single international convention that has not been violated.”
Several Ukrainian hospitals have been attacked by Russian troops, including an oncology ward in Mykolaiv. The specter of Mariupol, where a maternity hospital had been bombed just a week earlier, hung in the air.
“Pretty Woman”
There was a hallway in the basement, decorated with posters of soft-skinned babies. It acts as a shelter for the locals – the elderly, women, children and a dog.
When the sound became clear an hour later, everyone trudged upstairs.
Among them was Bondarenko, who the doctors hoped could avoid the cellar.
20:00. Another whistle. Another grueling trip down the stairs. Everyone seems attracted. Some of the women moved with difficulty, clinging to the walls and arms of the nurses.
Bondarenko was completely dilated and the doctors decided to keep her upstairs.
Despite the alarm, the night seemed peaceful.
In the delivery room on the second floor, Bondarenko’s husband was counting for her between deliveries. The young women remained amazingly silent and the doctor, a debonair man with twinkling eyes, turned on some music.
Sting. Farmer Mylene. And “Pretty Woman” as baby Snizhana greets the world.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
