17th in Ukraine: more than a thousand children were born in the Mykolaiv region since the beginning of the year

1,261 children were born in maternity hospitals of the Mykolaiv region, photo from open sources

Since the beginning of 2024, 47,772 babies have been born in Ukraine. In particular, 1,261 children were born in maternity hospitals of the Mykolaiv region.

The data is provided by the National Health Service of Ukraine.

According to birth statistics for previous years, 6,928 babies were born in Mykolaiv Oblast in 2021, and only 4,175 in 2022.

In four months of 2024, this number is 1,261. The situation is worse only in Kirovohrad (976) and Zaporizhzhia (914) regions. They are followed by a part of the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region, where 366 children were born. The fewest babies were born in the Kherson region — only 85.

Birth statistics from NSZU

The top regions with the highest birth rates were:

• Kyiv — 5,568;
• Lviv region — 4,278;
• Dnipropetrovsk region — 3,963;
• Odesa — 3,454;
• Rivne region — 2,556.

The NHSU reminded that the medical guarantee program fully covers care for newborns and that parents of infants can receive free services under the following packages:

• neonatal screening;
• medical care for newborns in complex neonatal cases;
• medical rehabilitation of babies who were born prematurely and/or sick during the first three years of life;
• medical assistance during childbirth.

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What about the birth rate in Mykolaiv?

In 11 months of 2023, the number of births increased by almost 500 compared to the same period in 2022. This is explained by the fact that people are returning to the city. In addition, in Mykolaiv there are also internally displaced residents from Kherson and the regions of the region, who also turn to the city's maternity hospitals.

The head of the health care department of the Mykolaiv City Council, Iryna Shamrai, answered the question of whether the increase in the number of people will create problems for reorganized maternity hospitals, that medical facilities are capable of receiving women in labor, even if it is about 10,000 deliveries per year.

Reorganization of maternity hospitals in Mykolaiv

As you know, in May 2023 in Mykolaiv, the city authorities began to study the issue of unification of maternity hospitals. The number of births is decreasing in the city.

On July 31, 2023, the Mykolaiv City Council made a decision to reorganize maternity homes №1 and №2 — they were attached to City Hospital №1 and City Hospital №3, respectively. The head of the city's health care department, Iryna Shamrai, explaining the need to reorganize medical facilities, stated that over the past 7 years, the number of pregnant women in Mykolaiv has decreased 5 times.

The city authorities plan to keep one maternity hospital in the city for almost half a million residents — №3, which is located in the Lisky microdistrict in the Factory district of Mykolaiv.

42 people were laid off due to the actual liquidation of maternity hospital No. 2 in Mykolaiv.

The staff of the maternity hospital №2 in Mykolaiv considers the decision of the city authorities to actually liquidate and preserve only one specialized medical facility in the city to be erroneous.

We will remind you that in January 2022, a blogger from Mykolaiv spoke about the cost of «free» childbirth in maternity hospital №3: 10 thousand hryvnias for a cesarean section, 8 thousand hryvnias for a natural birth. The cost of an ordinary ward was also mentioned - 580 hryvnias per day, but there is also one for 2,500 hryvnias per day at prices as of the beginning of 2022.

It should be noted that the state also guarantees free childbirth in Ukraine. In December 2021, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko announced that the National Health Service of Ukraine would compensate 15,101 hryvnias for one birth under the medical guarantee program. According to the E-Health system, the Mykolaiv Maternity Hospital No. 3 received 43 million 125 thousand 99 hryvnias under this program in 2021.