War. Stories from Ukraine

Ukrainians tell stories about their life during the war

“Russians do not know their children are dying”, Maria, 51, Berdyansk

by | 6 March 2022 | War. Stories from Ukraine

 

Maria Spirina is a 51-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist. She works at the Berdyansk maternity hospital. The first three days of war Maria spent at work. Together with other doctors, she took care of pregnant women and women in labor from Berdyansk and nearby villages.

“What worried us the most was how people would be able to get to the maternity hospital,” Maria recalls. “Many people stayed at home until the last minute. But on February 27, the woman started giving birth in the area where the shooting took place (in the village of Berestovo). She was hiding in the basement and could not get out. She was seven months pregnant, and she was actively bleeding for an hour in that basement. The ambulances were afraid to go there.”

Eventually, doctors took the woman to the hospital. One car took her to the checkpoint at the entrance to Berdyansk, and another one — to the maternity hospital. It took two hours to cover 40 kilometers.

At 4 a.m., after a cesarean section, a baby girl weighing 1,880 grams was born. Frightened mother Anna lost more than 1.5 liters of blood. None of the relatives could come from the village to the city to give the young mother things and food. The area is occupied by enemy Russian troops. In some villages, combat action is ongoing. Doctors fed the woman hospital food and provided a baby box with the necessary things for a newborn. Later, the volunteers found out about the situation and brought some food. Concerned people brought milk and baby formula.

During the first ten days of the war, 18 boys and six girls were born in the Berdyansk maternity hospital. Among these children, there were twins born to an immigrant from the Donetsk region.

Now it is still possible to give birth. There is enough oxygen, medicines, and food. The pharmacy is open. However, it is unknown what will happen in a week.

When there is an air raid alarm, doctors pick up the babies and go down to the basement with the women. After major operations, some doctors stay close to patients in the corridors between the load-bearing walls. Some employees are unable to go home to the village, so they live in the hospital for several days.

During the war, Maria is not only a gynecologist but also a psychologist. She talks with patients a lot, reassuring them and telling them where to hide under shelling and bombing. She has to consult pregnant women by phone all the time so she sleeps just three or four hours a day.

The war shocks Maria. After the bombing of Kharkiv, the woman cried for four days but had to take matters into her own hands to comfort the patients.

Maria is afraid of losing her loved ones. Russians shell the town of Vasylivka, her husband’s parents live in. Elderly people stay in the basement for several days without electricity and water. It is impossible to take them out of the occupied territory.

Favorite work and family, especially her 8-year-old son, help a woman cope with stress.

“I was born in Russia and moved to Ukraine with my family as a child,” says Maria. “I am of German origin. I had the opportunity to move to either Germany or Russia however I can’t help but going to work and helping people. Now Ukraine is my home. And I am very ashamed of my native land.”

“I am sorry for Russians because they do not know their children are dying and do not understand the horrors of war. But when it’s all over, they will know the truth. How will they live afterward?”

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