Despite the war raging in Ukraine, life continues to bloom: that’s why doctor Sergey Baksheev helped set up a birthing unit at Kiev Maternity Hospital in a bomb shelter in the basement of the building. In a publication issued on February 25 and which has accumulated more than 11,000 shares on Facebook, the doctor disseminates photos of the makeshift hospital where those he nicknames “the children of war” are born.
“My family is more than 4 kilometers from our maternity […]. I couldn’t take her to the maternity ward because a pregnant woman needs this place,” the doctor wrote in his Russian-language post. He justifies the use of this language by his desire to be understood by his “friends” located in particular in Russia and Belarus.
“Go out on the streets of your cities in Russia […], create your own anti-war movement,” writes the doctor. “Look at these images, and in the eyes of these health workers who have no fear of the Russian war”, he adds in a real cry from the heart.
International support
Over the past week, responses to Sergey Baksheev’s call for help have been overwhelming. In subsequent Facebook posts, the doctor notably thanks an American nurse Katya Simon who launched a fundraising campaign that provided 10,000 US dollars and “humanitarian aid” for the hospital in the Ukrainian capital. The nurse appealed to everyone on her Facebook account, writing that the hospital “needs resources to deal with the inevitable repairs or the depletion of stocks. »
Doctor Baksheev also salutes a milk factory in the region which has donated a large quantity of dairy products. He also mentions a donation of 200 kilograms of chicken meat, stressing that “everything is already in the maternity kitchen”.
Perinatal care at risk
The Russian bombardments forced many citizens to take refuge in the Kiev metro. Last week, news of a baby being born there went viral on Twitter.
But there are many dangers for women about to give birth. Earlier in the day, the director of a childbirth clinic in the city of Kharkiv confirmed that a Russian shell had hit the building. “The damage is great, but the building is still standing. Everyone was evacuated,” he confirmed on Facebook.