Ukrainian woman at the 38th week of pregnancy fled from the war to New York: now she is the mother of a little American

A Ukrainian woman thanks the doctors and nurses at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York for helping her give birth to her first child after fleeing the war in Ukraine at 38 weeks pregnant. Today.com.

Olesya, a single mother from Kyiv, 38, was celebrating a baby shower just hours before the first Russian bombs fell on Ukraine.

“My last photo from my apartment is of me with a bunch of gifts and balloons from this party,” said Olesya, whose last name is being dropped for her safety. “I had a lot of plans in Kyiv for this year.”

These plans evaporated when Olesya woke up at 5 am the next day to the sound of Russian bombs. Within five minutes, she gathered some of the overalls from the children's room along with her papers and some cash and drove to the nearest gas station, determined to get out of town.

Facing long queues for petrol, she decided to stay in Kyiv, fearing that she would not have enough petrol to run and that her car would be a target for Russian soldiers if she tried to evacuate. Olesya spent three nights in a bomb shelter, hoping that the assault would weaken and she could stay in Kyiv. But on the fourth day, her maternity hospital was bombed. Olesya knew that she needed to leave her hometown in order to safely give birth to her daughter.

“I realized that I don’t have a place to give birth”

“I decided to go to the west of Ukraine and then to Poland,” the woman said.

It took Olesya four days to get to the Ukrainian-Polish border. There she waited for more than 30 hours before safely crossing it.

“It was a lot of stress, but at that moment I realized that I needed to do it,” Olesya said. “It was safer for my daughter.”

Before the start of the war, when Olesya was 32 weeks pregnant, she asked her obstetrician-gynecologist if she could fly to another country. The woman was afraid of the Russian invasion. Her OB/GYN told her “no” as it was too dangerous to fly at this late pregnancy. But as soon as the war began, everything changed.

Needing shelter and a safe place to give birth, Olesya contacted her friend, whom she had been friends with for over a decade. The girl is originally from Ukraine and now lives in Manhattan.

“As soon as we got to Warsaw, I already had a plane ticket to the US,” she explained.

“It was very dangerous. The pilot was very afraid that the birth would begin on the plane. But I did it.”

Dr. Whitney Lieb, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive health at Mount Sinai West, was one of the doctors waiting for Olesya in New York.

“We received an email saying that a woman was coming to the States who needed care due to her late pregnancy,” Lieb said.

Lib, who eventually became Olesya's chief OB/GYN, reviewed her records and then worked tirelessly with her team to secure health insurance for Olesya in the event of an emergency.

“We wanted to make sure she gets good care. We did ultrasounds and labs and made sure there were no other medical conditions that could make pregnancy risky,” Lieb explained.

On the subject: New York has a program that allows women not to pay for childbirth, but they want to cancel it

Easy childbirth

“We arrived at the hospital in the morning at 4 in the morning, at 11:00 I had already given birth,” recalls Olesya, “The doctors danced in our ward. It was very fast, very easy and fun.”

Olesya's birth was an emotional moment for the entire hospital team, who felt helpless as they watched the war hurt Ukrainian pregnant women in so many ways.

“When we see these things on the news and hear about them, we feel like there is nothing we can do,” Lieb admitted. “Taking care of her really made me feel like we were making a difference, you know? It was really nice to help someone in need.”

Olesya now lives in New York with her daughter Kira, who loves to eat and sleep and has just begun to smile.

“I can't believe my daughter is with me,” she added. “At the same time, I can’t believe I lived without her. I feel like she has always been with me.”

Olesya understands how lucky she is. Russian troops attacked children's hospitals, maternity wards and schools. The United Nations was able to confirm that at least 142 Ukrainian children were killed. And tens of thousands more Ukrainian civilians have died in Russian-occupied cities like Mariupol.

Due to the war, complications during pregnancy have become more frequent among Ukrainian women

A pregnant woman and her fetus died after the Russians bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol.

“I understand that if I stayed in Kyiv, it would be terrible,” Olesya said. – Many women in Ukraine are not safe now. A few days ago, a 3-month-old girl was killed in Odessa. She had the same name as my daughter, Kira. She died due to the fact that the houses of civilians were attacked. This happens in Ukraine every day.”

Olesya says that when her daughter grows up, she will share with her the story of her birth. And he will not hide the terrible truth about the war in Ukraine.

“Maybe this is not the best story about the war and all these moments, but this is her way,” said Olesya. “My daughter is very strong. Her name "Kira" means "strong woman".

“Our story has a happy ending,” she added. “I hope that many other people’s stories will also have a happy ending, and people will be safe, children will be safe, and the war will end as soon as possible.”