{"id":13265,"date":"2026-06-09T04:02:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13265"},"modified":"2026-06-09T04:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:02:33","slug":"as-ukraine-fights-off-russias-invasion-some-regions-see-a-rise-in-premature-births","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13265","title":{"rendered":"As Ukraine fights off Russia\u2019s invasion, some regions see a rise in premature births"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SAMYA KULLAB<\/strong><\/p>\n

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 When Marharyta Nekhoroshyva first saw her newborn son, she was gripped by fear. Born after just 26 weeks of pregnancy, he weighed only 940 grams (2 pounds) and wore diapers no larger than the palm of an adult hand.<\/p>

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\u201cThe doctors told me that if he survived the first three days, everything would be OK,\u201d she said, tears filling her eyes. \u201cI don\u2019t believe in God, but I was praying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 9 months old, Mark is energetic and lively, but he has chronic breathing problems and requires frequent hospital stays.<\/p>\n

Nekhoroshyva must navigate her son\u2019s illness while living under the constant threat of attack in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, where hospitals board up their windows because blast waves from Russian strikes routinely shatter glass. She is doing it alone while her husband fights in the war.<\/p>\n

A rising number of babies are being born prematurely \u2014 before 37 weeks of pregnancy \u2014 in Ukraine, particularly in regions near the front lines, where some areas have seen rates nearly double since the conflict started with Russia\u2019s invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n

Experts say the reasons for premature births are complex, but the profound psychological and physical stress the war is inflicting on pregnant mothers is contributing. The delicate work of keeping the fragile newborns alive is made only more difficult by the conflict.<\/p>\n

When their babies are at the main children\u2019s hospital in Zaporizhzhia, Nekhoroshyva and other mothers descend with their children into the shelter each night. In the narrow, dimly lit hallways, they rock and soothe their infants to sleep.<\/p>

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Ukraine is seeing a rise in premature births<\/h4>\n

While fewer women in Ukraine are giving birth overall due to displacement, emigration and other factors during the war, a growing share of births are premature, according to data from the United Nations and recent scientific studies.<\/p>\n

In the southern region of Kherson, the preterm birth rate nearly doubled from 5.4% in 2019 to 9.8% in 2025, according to the U.N. In the Zaporizhzhia region, also in the south, it rose from 5.7% in 2019 to 7.6% in 2025. In Poltava, a region in northeastern Ukraine, the rate rose from 7.7% to 9.8% over the same period.<\/p>\n

The front line cuts through both the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which frequently see attacks on residential areas. Poltava is some distance away from the front but is frequently hit by aerial strikes.<\/p>\n

The link between maternal stress and premature birth is complex, but a growing body of research suggests that prolonged psychological strain increases the risk of babies being born early, experts say. It may be tied to an increased risk of infection, a known trigger for preterm labor, said Dr. Andrew Weeks, a professor of international maternal healthcare at the University of Liverpool.<\/p>

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\u201cPremature birth is very affected by infection,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you can\u2019t get to a place where you can get appropriate diagnosis and treatment early, then actually the chance of you going into premature labor is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just premature births that are rising in Ukraine; emergency cesarean sections and other complications are, too, said Isaac Hurskin, spokesperson for the U.N. Population Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing this real link between acute stress and birthing and pregnancy-related complications,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Those complications could compound a demographic crisis. Ukraine\u2019s fertility rate has fallen to among the lowest in the world, dropping to roughly one child per woman over the past three years \u2014 far below the 2.1 replacement rate, Hurskin said.<\/p>\n

Premature babies need extensive care \u2014 and that\u2019s difficult during a war<\/h4>\n

Inside an incubator in the intensive care unit at the maternity hospital in the city of Zaporizhzhia lies a baby born at 30 weeks and weighing only 1 pound, 9 ounces \u2014 well below the threshold of 5 pounds, 8 ounces that the World Health Organization classifies as low birth weight.<\/p>\n

Her tiny body is kept alive inside the temperature-controlled incubator. IV lines deliver nutrients and medication, while a ventilator helps her breathe. The incubator is draped with a blanket to protect her fragile, developing eyes from the harsh fluorescent lights of the ward.<\/p>\n

Treatment focuses on helping premature babies gain weight and eventually breathe on their own, but complications can be extensive, said Dr. Andrii Lobanov, head of the neonatal intensive care at Zaporizhzhia\u2019s children\u2019s hospital. Oxygen levels, for instance, must be managed precisely because of the risk of abnormal blood vessel growth in the eyes, leading to blindness in severe cases.<\/p>

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Even after they leave intensive care, children born prematurely often require long-term care \u2014 possibly for life \u2014 for respiratory, neurological, developmental or immune-related conditions.<\/p>\n

That is a burden on cash-strapped countries like Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very expensive and of course a country in a war situation has to decide what it\u2019s going to spend on, so hospital services invariably get hit. Both literally and metaphorically,\u201d Weeks said.<\/p>\n