The capital's Perinatal Center has every opportunity to nurse a premature baby and preserve its health – Hovsiev

Up to 10% of infants at the Kyiv Perinatal Center are born prematurely. Caring for such babies is a complex process, but the facility has all the necessary capabilities for this. The center's director, obstetrician-gynecologist Dmytro Hovsyeiev, said this in an interview with the publication Censor.net, reports UNN. 

According to him, despite expectations that the number of premature births would increase with the start of the full-scale invasion, the reality was different — the number of such births decreased. 

In the first year of the full-scale offensive, this was so pronounced — the number of premature births fell from ten percent to five — that we ourselves were surprised. Then this figure began to rise slightly. And in 2025, it was again eight to nine percent — close to ten premature births out of the total number. And this year, everything remains the same 

The doctor explained that, in accordance with European standards, a child who weighs one kilogram at birth should live. 

I will repeat the slogan adopted in all European countries: a child who has reached a weight of one kilogram should be born alive and should live. Period. Should live! Previously, we used to say that the child was too small. Today, we state that this child should live. Below one kilogram, there can already be debate and differences in opinions, actions, and various assessments. One kilogram is approximately 28 weeks of pregnancy. That means there were still three months until a full-term birth. And these three months during which the woman did not carry the child to term, we have to provide additional care for it. That is why we keep the baby in the hospital for three months, because its biological age is calculated not from the moment of birth, of coming into the world, but from the gestational age at which it was born. In other words, the child may be three months old, but it has only just reached the age at which it should have been born, you understand? 

According to Hovsyeiev, the Perinatal Center has all the capabilities needed to care for such children. At the same time, this is expensive. 

I cannot speak for everyone, but at least the Kyiv City Perinatal Center has every opportunity to care for a child and protect it from subsequently developing a disability. Yes, this is very difficult and very expensive. In severe cases, medical professionals in any field will say that they do not have enough of the funds transferred to us by the National Health Service of Ukraine. I think I will not be original in saying this. But we all try to save our patients. And overall, we somehow manage to stay afloat. But I will note once again: children born at 25–28 weeks of pregnancy are very expensive 

The Perinatal Center specializes in complex neonatal cases. Babies weighing as little as 500 grams are cared for here. 

According to estimates presented by the director of the Perinatal Center at a Kyiv City State Administration commission meeting, on average, caring for such a child costs the facility approximately 35,000 hryvnias: depending on the infant's condition, the figure ranges from 20,000 to more than 100,000. A significant share of the costs goes toward medications for treating respiratory disorders in such children, which are expensive. The Perinatal Center received these medications through a medical program for a long time, but over the past two years it has been forced to purchase them independently.