Underground Births, Under Bombardment: Childbearing in Ukraine

More than 168,000 babies were born in Ukraine last year. But the war has made many pregnancies difficult. Some maternity wards have been forced underground. Doctors perform C-sections during lulls in shelling, and hospitals near the front line report more preterm births. Supported by Underground Births, Under Bombardment: Childbearing in Ukraine In the terrifying first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Inna Slavhorodska fled her home in eastern Ukraine and made it to Germany, miles from the bombs and gunfire. Ms. Slavhorodska, now 38, was pregnant at the time. After her escape, she miscarried at five months, losing the baby. Fighting raged on. Ms. Slavhorodska still wanted a baby, even though she was convinced that war-related stress had made her lose one already. She returned home to the city of Kharkiv, where Ukraine’s military had pushed back Russian forces in late 2022, and again became pregnant. This January, she gave birth to a healthy baby through a C-section. The next day, Russian drones hit the hospital where she was recovering, causing damage but leaving Ms. Slavhorodska and her newborn unharmed. “It was very scary,” she said. “Really scary.” The war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, is inflicting an additional toll on pregnant women through fear and stress caused by bombings, shelling, displacement, occupation and electrical blackouts. Maternal mortality in Ukraine increased by more than a third from 2023 to 2024, the most recent years of statistics available, according to data compiled by the World Health Organization and partners, and cited by the United Nations. The U.N. attributed the rise to attacks on health care facilities, stress and displacement, a finding supported by interviews The New York Times conducted with more than 40 women and more than a dozen Ukrainian doctors. Related Content Advertisement