Maternal Fetal Medical Aid for Ukraine

It is shocking to imagine that in just the first 10 days of Russia’s war on Ukraine, over 4,300 babies were born. According to the United Nations, another 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months, amidst the daily destruction of vital medical infrastructure and depleted supplies. This sector - including infants, their mothers, their families and medical professionals - is just one of many facing casualties of this senseless war that threatens the next generation of Ukrainians.

 

We are two Ukrainian-Americans, Areta, MD and Nina, who will not let the most innocent suffer any chance of having their lives cut short because of Russia’s unprovoked aggression. We, Areta, an Obstetrics & Gynecology Resident and Nina, a strategy consultant, are childhood friends who grew up in America’s Ukrainian diaspora and have always held our family’s homeland and heritage close to our hearts.

 

Our goal is to raise a minimum of $10,000 to assist doctors in maternity wards and perinatal clinics to treat mothers-to-be and their unborn children, even under unimaginably horrible conditions. What is universally thought to be the most beautiful miracle of life, has become a precarious and dangerous challenge in a war zone that is expanding every day and every hour.

 

We are in contact with 3 Ukrainian ObGyns in Kyiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. All three doctors are overwhelmed by maternity wards and perinatal clinics that are overcrowded with internally-displaced refugee patients who have fled from the vast eastern regions of Ukraine. Air raids and warning sirens force frequent relocation of patients underground with limited medical equipment that is able to be moved and operated in basement conditions. By helping fulfill requests for supplies and equipment as theirs, these heroic professionals can continue life-saving work in declining environments.

 

Your contributions will go towards hand-held fetal monitors and ultrasound devices with portable probes and smartphone connectivity to allow for doctors' mobile treatment. This will give mothers and infants a fighting chance to survive childbirth above and below ground. We will also source other critical medical supplies needed for these maternity wards and perinatal clinics to cater to the overwhelming number of laboring mothers and operating room needs. 

 

Below are some photos sent from one of our ObGyn contacts in Ukraine.