The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has provided support to three ‘Cradle of Hope’ partner centres in Sumy, Zhytomyr and Chernivtsi

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has paid for equipment repairs and purchased components for the neonatal intensive care units of three ‘Cradle of Hope’ partner centres based at the Sumy Regional Clinical Perinatal Centre, the Zhytomyr Regional Perinatal Centre and the Chernivtsi Regional Children’s Hospital, at a total cost of 420,000 hryvnias. 

The Foundation continues to provide systematic support to the ‘Cradle of Hope’ centres, annually allocating funds for equipment repairs, spare parts and consumables to ensure their uninterrupted operation. During the war, this support was significantly stepped up, particularly for medical facilities that continue to operate in close proximity to the front line or provide assistance to large numbers of internally displaced persons. 

Sum Regional Clinical Perinatal Centre – a partner of the ‘Cradles of Hope’ project since February 2010 and the region’s leading healthcare institution in the region, providing highly specialised obstetric, gynaecological and neonatal care to residents of Sumy and the entire Sumy region, specialising in the most complex cases of pregnancy loss, premature birth and the care of premature babies. Before the start of full-scale military aggression, an average of 2,500 babies were born here, and over 200 newborns received high-tech medical care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Given that the region is a border area, Sumy was one of the first to feel the negative consequences of the invaders’ occupation, working in life-threatening conditions and experiencing all the horrors of air strikes and artillery shelling. Nevertheless, the regional perinatal centre did not cease its work for a single moment. During the war, 2,550 babies were born at the facility, and 288 newborns required intensive care. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation provides ongoing support to the Centre; this year, we have already supplied Sumy’s neonatal units with pulse oximeters and disposable tubing for high-flow oxygen therapy systems.

The Zhytomyr Regional Perinatal Centre is a specialised Level III healthcare facility providing obstetric, gynaecological and neonatal care to women with reproductive health issues, pregnant women with both uncomplicated and complicated pregnancies, new mothers and newborns in Zhytomyr and the Zhytomyr region. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation began its collaboration with the Zhytomyr Regional Perinatal Centre as part of the ‘Cradles of Hope’ programme in June 2008, opening a centre of the same name on its premises and donating medical equipment for all departments. For many years, the Zhytomyr Cradles served as the project’s practical training base, hosting training sessions, seminars and professional development courses for neonatologists, obstetricians-gynaecologists and nurses from both “Cradles of Hope” centres and other medical institutions across Ukraine. In March 2022, the facility was hit by an airstrike, which caused significant damage; for a long time, care for women and newborns was provided in a shelter, which, with the Foundation’s assistance, was quickly set up in the basement of the perinatal centre. During the period of our cooperation, more than 55,000 Ukrainian babies were born at the facility (including 7,074 between 2022 and 2025), of whom 4,200 (750 between 2022 and 2025) were treated in the neonatal intensive care unit. For 18 years now, the Foundation has been keeping the equipment in working order, ensuring its uninterrupted operation through timely repairs and the purchase of consumables. This year, repairs were carried out on ventilators, infusion pumps and monitoring equipment.

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation began its collaboration with the Chernivtsi Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital in May 2007, opening the ‘Cradles of Hope’ centre within the neonatal intensive care unit and equipping it with state-of-the-art equipment for the care of premature babies. The neonatal intensive care unit has a capacity of nine beds, but quite often there are 10–12 babies in the unit. Around 200 babies are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit each year from maternity wards across the Chernivtsi region. During the full-scale war, these were joined by children from all regions of Ukraine, whose parents were forced to flee from the zone of active hostilities. Over 600 such infants have passed through the neonatal intensive care unit during the war. In total, during the Foundation’s collaboration with the regional children’s hospital, nearly 3,800 children have received treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit. The vast majority of these patients are admitted to the unit in a critically ill condition and require mechanical ventilation; therefore, this year the Foundation has prioritised the repair and replenishment of respiratory equipment. 

Thanks to the assistance received, specialists will be able to closely monitor the condition of the infants, take the necessary medical measures in a timely manner, provide high-quality medical care and save their lives.