As millions of people have fled war in Ukraine, doctors in Poland say they are seeing higher rates of pregnancy complications, premature births and stillbirths among Ukrainian refugees due to severe physical and emotional stress and prolonged periods of limited access to health care.
Around the world, maternal health care suffers amid war as women are forced to flee their homes, doctors are diverted to wartime response efforts and hospitals are left vulnerable to attacks. In Ukraine alone, the World Health Organization said it has verified more than 100 attacks impacting health care since the start of the war, including attacks affecting medical facilities and supplies.
Many pregnant refugees arriving in Poland — the country to intake by far the most Ukrainians — have been sitting in crowded bomb shelters for weeks in unsanitary conditions, with little access to reliable food, water or electricity. Some have had to walk nearly 20 miles to cross the border, carrying luggage and young children.
Collecting data to capture the full-scale impact on pregnant refugees in any conflict zone can often be difficult due to the small sample size and issues with underreporting. But the United Nations Population Fund estimated that 265,000 Ukrainian women were pregnant when the war started, and 80,000 were expected to give birth over the next three months.
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“We know that there’s probably going to be an increase in complications, but what’s most important is being able to put measures in place to be able to deal with those complications competently,” said Ann Burton, the chief of public health at the United Nations refugee agency.
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