“Women and newborns need extra care and support.”
These are the words of Galina Dmytrova, a neonatologist at Chuhuiv Central Hospital in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. To her patients, the support Galina and her colleagues provide make a difference between life and death.
“They are already under enormous stress because of the war and now we are facing water shortages again. Before the war, you’d turn on the tap and not think twice. But now, under daily shelling, the electricity goes out, and with it, the water too,” says Galina.
5 water stations set up across Kharkiv city and the wider region in Ukraine continue to allow hospitals to provide essential care despite the war. Among them is Chuhuiv Central Hospital. The stations were installed in 2025 by WHO with funding from the European Union and in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health.
For communities regularly affected by attacks that disrupt electricity and water supply, this support ensures access to clean, safe water for both patients and health workers, which is critical in maternity wards, where hygiene and continuity of care are vital.
“In our hospital, thanks to WHO and the European Commission, we now have a water treatment system. I’m deeply grateful. It’s hard to explain the importance – especially for mothers and their babies. Many people actually can’t believe women are still giving birth under such harsh conditions. But they are, and I truly admire them,” Galina adds.
Those are our babies
In 2024, some 179 children were born in the Chuhuiv Central Hospital in the Kharkiv region. This year, the birth rate is similar; in the first 3 months of 2025, hospital staff oversaw more than 45 births.
“That’s our maternity ward, our babies, around 15 every month – even while the war goes on,” Galina tells us.
The certainty and assurance that care is available, that there is a hospital nearby, gives people hope. A functioning hospital is a reminder that life goes on. The opposite is also true; when health facilities are damaged or attacked in conflict, it not only deprives communities of access to health care. It also deprives them of hope.
“When the war started, I was new to Chuhuiv. I didn’t know the area that well. One night, a woman in labour came very late and explained they’d been looking for a boat. The bridge to her village had been destroyed – so, to get here, they had to cross the river. But they did it, because they knew here was a hospital that could help,” says Galina.