By Brooke Warner
It is easy to forget that although lives end in war, some begin too.
According to data from research platforms, it is estimated that around 1,000 babies are born each day in Ukraine. As hospitals are now a luxury for expectant mothers there, the standards in which they are delivering their babies are unforgettable.
The country is begging for humanitarian aid to help deliver and care for the estimated 80,000 babies that will be born in Ukraine in the next three months, as the circumstances in which they face being born into is considered a failure of basic human rights.
As many women attempt to flee Ukraine, others are being forced to deliver their babies in make-shift underground wards. Doctors have raised their concerns for the babies being born in the war, with a neonatologist associate professor, Dr Olena Kostiuk, telling ITV News, “Babies are going to die… because babies, they cannot survive in these conditions.”
Maternity wards in hospitals have been a target for Russia throughout the war in Ukraine, with the consequences for new mothers tragic. With mothers and babies being put in the most difficult situations at the supposed happiest moments of life, the impact of this war is more clear than ever.
Ukraine is also a country well known for surrogacy, with many surrogate mums being Ukrainian. Around 2,000 babies are born every year in Ukraine to surrogate mothers, predominantly for couples who come from abroad. Getting a passport with the babies’ new parents’ names on it is simpler there.
The impact of this has meant the newborn baby and surrogate mother are trapped in between the frontlines, with the expectant family being without their newborn. This situation is a moral dilemma for surrogate mothers who have been put in an unknown position to either flee for themselves or stay for their baby.
Lorraine Ridley, a new mother through surrogacy states, “I simply could not be away from the birth of my newborn. Missing the birth is one thing, ongoing separation is heartbreaking.”
The new mum said surrogacy is a “miracle” for mums who cannot physically have a baby, and said that she fears for the future of surrogacy after the war.
What can we do to help?
In times like these it is obvious to want to donate and provide for these newborn babies.
Save The Children recently announced the danger with donating baby formula to conflict countries as it can be unsanitary for the baby to have and then lead to illness. However, these babies will need all the help they can through donating to local charities such as it and the Red Cross, which will be giving those families in need the money for the essential items needed for a newborn.
Charli Whittle, a volunteer at Oxfam described the war as “a disgrace of humanity”, she went on to explain the work the charity are doing to help Ukraine, “every penny we make goes directly to humanitarian aid.” When asked the easiest way for someone to donate she stated, “if you go on our website, the first thing you see is donate to Ukraine… it couldn’t be simpler.”
If we can come together in donating, it will save children.
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