War triggers spike in premature births in Ukraine

International health agency Unitaid said the premature baby rate in some Ukrainian hospitals went up from 12 per cent to 40 per cent since the invasion

It has provided portable oxygen equipment to health centres in the country to help them cope

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A mother checks on her daughter at a maternity hospital in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. File photo: Reuters

Published: 11:03pm, 9 Aug 2022Updated: 2:49am, 10 Aug 2022

War has caused an apparent rise in premature births in Ukraine, international health agency Unitaid said on Tuesday, as it announced oxygen equipment deliveries to health centres in the country to help them cope.

Russia’s February invasion “increases levels of stress in pregnant women, which leads to an increase in the number of premature births reported”, Unitaid spokesman Herve Verhoosel told reporters in Geneva.

“Babies born prematurely are more likely to develop respiratory, neurological or digestive complications – conditions that often require oxygen for treatment.”

Unitaid, which works on ensuring equitable access to medical innovations, said it provided 220 bubble nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and 125 oxygen blender systems to supply infants with breathing support and oxygen therapy.

“The conflict in Ukraine has seen many hospitals damaged or destroyed, and supply chains have been severed,” Verhoosel added.