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Ukrainian Mother Delivers Baby in a Hospital Bomb Shelter
“While I was pregnant, I practiced yoga, prepared for a gentle birth, and took courses. It certainly wasn’t like this,” said 32-year-old mother, Natalia.
During the second day of the Russian invasion in Kyiv, expectant mother Natalia and her husband bravely navigated the empty streets of Ukraine’s capital to reach the hospital for the birth of their first child. However, instead of delivering in the “comfortable” room she had envisioned, Natalia found herself in a “dilapidated” bomb shelter, recounting her experience to The Guardian. “I couldn’t believe I was giving birth in the middle of a war,” she shared.
While preparing her home for the baby’s arrival, she listened to the sounds of explosions outside when contractions began. The couple faced a tense and surreal journey to the hospital, spending 30 minutes waiting for gas before making their way through abandoned streets. Although the hospital’s lights were turned off for safety, they received a warm welcome and were initially shown to a “bright and colorful” room by the doctor. But soon, sirens began to wail. “It was surreal to look out and see the beautiful Gothic architecture while hearing those sirens,” Natalia remembered. “I had been preparing for a peaceful birth; this was nothing like that.”
As her labor progressed, Natalia was rushed to the bomb shelter, which she described as “very wet and cold,” built during Soviet times. A shower curtain separated her from around 50 other patients and staff members. A photograph shared with The Guardian reveals peeling paint on brick walls, exposed pipes, and a makeshift “gynecological chair” where she would soon give birth. “I tried not to focus on that and hoped to return to the hospital soon,” she said. But then, her water broke. “My doctor looked at me and said: ‘We have to do this here; it’s too risky to wait,’” Natalia explained. At that moment, she felt a sense of calm and trust in her doctor — her only thought was to hold her baby and end the pain.
In a poignant moment captured in a photograph, Natalia, still clad in her grey overcoat, pushed as she gripped her knees. Despite the grim surroundings, joy washed over her when she saw her baby for the first time. “I was overwhelmed with happiness when I met my son, Alex. With his dark hair, he looked just like his father, who cut the umbilical cord,” she recalled. “I felt this immense love and pure happiness.”
Her first words to her newborn? “You’re lucky, you’re unique, you were born in Ukraine, you’re a new Ukrainian.” Natalia hopes for peace and wishes that Alex will only know of this war through stories, especially the remarkable tale of his birth.
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In summary, Natalia’s journey through an extraordinary and unnerving experience of giving birth amidst war highlights the resilience of motherhood.
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