Iryna Lioneliivna Holovatyuk-Yuzefpolska, who has been the head of Odesa Maternity Hospital No. 1 for a quarter of a century, needs no special introduction. Tens of thousands of newly born Odessans passed through her hands in the literal sense, she enjoys respect and honor, and has been generously awarded with state awards.
ElitExpert met with the Honored Doctor of Ukraine to present her with an honorary certificate of the Charity Festival "Volunteer Talisman" for her constant and planned support of medical initiatives, assistance to our defenders, displaced persons and contribution to the psychological rehabilitation of women and children.
The conversation turned out to be long and meaningful - they discussed the problems faced by the maternity hospital in the conditions of war, the importance of psychological support, and how modern technologies and medical advances help save the lives of newborns.
To begin with, tell us about your team and your attitude to the profession...
We have a very well-coordinated team, we have been together for a long time. I have been leading it for 24 years, and all my work and vocation is my soul and heart. By the way, I am a doctor in the second generation: my dad was a pediatric surgeon, and now my daughter is also a doctor.
For me, medical dignity and honor are not empty words. That's why I always tell my employees to be gentle and patient, even with those who come in and behave in some way that is inappropriate or strange. We should all lend a helping hand and be close to those who need our support today.
And what about the provision of medicines and general conditions for women in labor at such a difficult time?
We have absolutely all the medicines that are necessary for a full delivery. If, God forbid, any complications arise, or you need to perform an operation or resuscitate the child - we have everything in stock.
We do not ask patients to bring anything. The only things they can take with them are hygiene products or their personal medications that they take. We provide everything else regarding the protocol and equipment.
We accept everyone, we do all the necessary tests and examinations absolutely free of charge, we fully fulfill the requirements of the state according to the package of services. For example, in the last six months, more than 80 women who are immigrants have given birth to children. Some of them do not even have normal living conditions here in Odessa, as they urgently moved to escape the war. And we, in turn, understand what a person needs, and contact social services ourselves. We regularly hold the "Mother's Heart" charity event, as part of which we ask our patients whose children have already grown up to bring things for newborns. So we give these things to women who sometimes don't even have anything to take the baby home after discharge.
How did the recent shelling of the "Okhmatdit" hospital in Kyiv affect the work of your maternity hospital in Odesa? Didn't scare your patients?
Of course, such extreme situations cannot help but worry us. But we have a certified shelter where it is safe and comfortable. It happens that many women have panic attacks due to explosions and anxiety. It is especially difficult for pregnant women, because they worry about their future children and themselves. For this, we have psychologists who support women, we also prescribe the necessary drugs to help them cope with panic attacks.
In general, during these 2,5 years of the war, we have been working steadily in such conditions and trying to help our women as much as possible, despite all the difficulties of wartime.
Does your maternity hospital support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and families of defenders in wartime conditions?
Of course. We often collect aid for our defenders and buy necessary items at their requests. This is our personal initiative, and we do not advertise it. I believe that every person today must live with the understanding that we are in a war and this war must end with our victory. Everyone must contribute, not only at the front, but also in the rear.
We also open our hearts to those expectant parents who come from the front lines for a week or so to be close to their partners during childbirth. We give them the opportunity to be together in the ward so that they have more positive, bright, hope for the future. Our soldiers must understand why they are there, be inspired by being next to their newborn babies.
By the way, I want to add that now nature is trying to make up for our losses at the front. We now have more twins, recently there were even triplets.
And how many of your doctors went to the front?
Four of our employees left. By the way, these are not only doctors, for example, our security guard also volunteered. Of course, we all worry about them, because they have been there for 2,5 years. For example, Professor Svitlana Halych is always on the front line, and we always send her warm rays and try to convey something whenever possible.
Many of our employees have relatives, children and husbands at the front. Unfortunately, there are also dead people among them, and we help such families who are faced with such grief. I would also like to add that some of our employees, mostly young mothers with small children, left Ukraine at the beginning of the war for the safety of their children, and I also understand them.
And how does the maternity hospital as a whole cope with the challenges of war?
Recently, medicine in Ukraine has become very modern, no worse than abroad. By the way, someone still thinks differently in the old way, but those who left can compare. Many of them come here, consult us and tell us that, for example, abroad, to see a gynecologist, you have to wait three months, but here you can get a consultation right away.
In addition, we conduct online consultations for pregnant women. Our doctors are ready to help at any time of the day or night. Our maternity hospital is equipped with all the necessary medical equipment and medications according to the protocol.
We save the lives of children weighing 700-800 grams at birth. The main thing in such a situation is to immediately provide resuscitation and start treatment. Sometimes it costs more than 100 thousand hryvnias, and this is all at the expense of our funds and medicines. Patients spend nothing.
We also have a second stage — exit. We leave small children here for a few weeks or a month until their condition is completely normal.
It is clear that before the war you did not have a bomb shelter. What measures have you had to take to keep your employees and patients safe?
This is a very interesting question. Do you remember how the war began - on the very first day Odessa was bombed. I came to work in the morning and realized that we need to do everything to ensure that women with newborn babies and pregnant women are in a safe place. We immediately decided to use our three-meter deep basement. Very quickly, within one day, we organized everything.
In each room there is air conditioning, water, food supply and everything necessary, and now there will be supply and exhaust ventilation. There are special portable cradles prepared for children. When the alarm sounds, everyone goes down there with the staff. In the basement there is an intensive care unit for children, a separate delivery room, an operating room - everything you need for childbirth and operations.
Once we even had to do an emergency operation there because the air alert was so long. The basement has all the necessary equipment to function as a mini maternity hospital. We have already received many births there, and all the equipment there is exactly the same as in the maternity ward on the second floor. In addition, we have certified our shelter and we are now officially a maternity hospital with a shelter.
What about blackouts?
Our delivery room is equipped with two generators. When the electricity is cut off, the generator starts automatically, and the light is off for 10-30 seconds. Generators are refueled by the city government, we do not buy fuel.
There are also two boiler rooms in the maternity ward: gas and liquid fuel. We have a reserve of 30 tons of water stored in huge tanks that are indoors where nothing freezes. In the absence of water from the central water supply, we can supply water from these tanks, so that women do not feel this. We also have infection control. Our epidemiologist monitors cleanliness and safety in the facility to maintain a high level of sanitation and hygiene.
Another difficult question: in connection with such nervous tension and war, have there been more births with pathologies?
I will say that our youth are quite sickly, and many diseases have really become younger now. Have there been more pathologies? Stress exacerbates chronic diseases, and pregnant women certainly have problems. So, pathologies are found, and, unfortunately, there are quite a lot of them today. In addition, short-term pregnancies are interrupted more often, and there are frozen pregnancies. Is it related to emotions? Probably yes. Stress disrupts the very process of conception. The fetal egg may not be fully mature, the egg may not be fully mature, which prevents the pregnancy from developing beyond 8-10 weeks. Such cases bring us grief. Let there be not so many of them, but still more than there were before.
Why am I asking this? Because we now write a lot as a Ukrainian nation suffering both physically and mentally because of the war. Unfortunately, everyone understands that after the war these problems will be even more And this, of course, will affect children. It is important to understand what to do in such a situation...
I really like the first lady Olena Zelenska's mental health project "How are you?". This is a psychological project, and all our doctors have been trained to work as psychologists. We learned to understand the situation, identify mental disorders in women and really influence it. We officially employ three medical psychologists, but all the other employees have involuntarily also become psychologists because they were forced to acquire these skills.
Many specialists worked on this program, who understand that it is necessary to catch a difficult situation in time so that Ukrainians do not have a catastrophic situation with mental health in the future. We actively popularize this program: we have banners and posters in every department, in the women's consultation, explaining where to go and how to behave. "How are you?" - this is a very correct, timely and thought-out initiative.
Has the age of women giving birth for the first time changed in any way in recent years? Are women giving birth later?
Right now, a 42-year-old woman is giving birth for the first time. She gives birth on her own and everything goes well. A few days ago, a 41-year-old woman gave birth to us. Here, everything is very individual - we also have very young women giving birth. But in general, the age of women giving birth has shifted towards a later conception and birth of a child - due to career, housing issues, personal moments. In general, our medicine is now at such a level that if you are able to bear a child, you are able to give birth at any age.
At the end of our interview, what would you like to wish to those women who are thinking today: whether to give birth to a child or not?
You know, the desire to give birth to a child comes from within, every woman feels it intuitively. It's like an energy that comes to you, as if some soul is asking you for it. I believe that children choose mothers, souls choose mothers. That is, some soul has already asked you, and you must accept it.
Of course, the situation is difficult today, but there is a proverb: "God gave a child, God will give to a child." This is a saying that our grandmothers used to say. No need to worry. Children's souls are looking for their mothers, and it is important that more children want to be born in our country.
It is very important to love children and raise them for love, not for money. Children make us modern and progressive, teach us many things that we adults have already forgotten. They remind us of what is important to remember. They say that children today are the children of the new age, and they are already teaching us. Any child can, for example, find his way around a computer and any gadgets faster than us adults.
Children make us better. A child always wants to see his mother beautiful and proud of her. Every mother must understand that for her child she must be the best in the full sense of the word. Children stimulate us. We come into this world to continue in our children, and every woman should realize this.
Olena Ovchinnikova communicated
