In Odesa, mother accuses doctors of her baby's death

A newborn baby died in Odesa Maternity Hospital #5. The girl's mother, Olena Boyko, accuses the doctors of delaying the necessary assistance.

According to the woman, on June 17 in the evening, during an examination in the maternity ward, she felt severe pain and asked for a cesarean section. The doctor allegedly replied: "Everyone gives birth, and you will give birth".

When she returned home, Olena noticed a dark discharge. She wrote to the doctor about it, but she replied that it was normal at 39 weeks of pregnancy. The next morning, Olena started bleeding heavily.

"I was bleeding non-stop," Olena recalls.

At 7:00, she arrived at the maternity hospital. There, the doctors recorded the fetal heartbeat at 180-190 beats, but refused to perform a cesarean section.

"I was crying, screaming, asking for a C-section," the woman says.

She was taken to the operating room when her heart rate dropped sharply. The baby was delivered with no signs of life. According to Olena, the doctor then asked if the parents agreed to an autopsy and how they wanted to bury the child. The woman also said that the baby's death was not officially recorded, and the police were not called.

After the tragedy, the head of the department, having seen a photo of the bleeding, said that a C-section should have been performed immediately. The doctor explained the death of the newborn by saying that the umbilical cord was too short, which caused the blood vessels to tear off. Olena says that the pregnancy was uneventful, and the baby was fine until the last moment. According to her, the Israeli doctors she consulted suggested that the cause was placental abruption, which required an immediate cesarean section.

Olena Velmohko, a spokeswoman for the city's health department , confirmed that an investigation was underway with the involvement of external experts. The final conclusions are expected to be made public after the investigation is completed.

Олеся Ланцман