Mariia Shostak, a 25-year-old woman living in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, started having contractions on 24 February, the day the Russian Federation launched a military offensive in Ukraine, and gave birth amid the sounds of air raid sirens.
After the operation, I was in intensive care for several hours, no longer on anaesthesia. I was worried because I didn't know where the baby and my husband were.
Meanwhile, another air raid siren sounded, and I decided to go down to the basement. I was in a disposable shirt, without shoes, in a wheelchair, holding a urinary catheter.
I was covered with a blanket and taken to the shelter, where I first saw my son. We named him Arthur.
I felt fear, fatigue, and pain. The day after surgery, I went up to the maternity ward and back down to the basement several times a day. Again and again, the air raid siren sounded.
Exhaustion blunted the fear until a projectile hit a high-rise building we could see from our window. I managed to sleep for an hour or two a day. We spent most of the time in the basement sitting in chairs. My back hurt from sitting, and my legs are still swollen as a pregnancy complication.
My husband, Yurii, helped, taking care of me and the newborn. Medical staff organized meals in the bunker and later provided beds.
They helped put the baby to the breast, shared medicine for babies, held my hand when I had a hard time walking.
I feel safe in the capital – there are enough shelters and timely information is coming from the authorities. My husband arranged a corner for us in the basement of our house to stay.
I was born and raised here in Kyiv, I have no other home. We are not going to leave.”
This account is based on an article which first appeared on the website of our colleagues at the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.
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