Save the Children said the escalation has meant 63,000 babies born into conditions that could have negative lifelong impacts
More than 63,000 babies are estimated to have been born into war in Ukraine in the past two months and into conditions that could have a lifelong impact on their mental health, according to Save the Children[i].
These newborns join the millions of children put at heightened risk of grave physical harm and lifelong psychological trauma from violence, loss, and displacement, since the escalation of the war on 24 February and with fighting increasing in the east of the country.
Save the Children is calling for an immediate end to the violence as the only way to protect children from physical and psychological harm. It is also the only way to safely reach the 12 million people across Ukraine in desperate need of critical humanitarian assistance to survive[ii].
The escalation has caused the fastest and largest displacement of people in Europe since World War Two, with five million now having fled Ukraine. At least two thirds of the country’s 7.5 million children have fled their homes and more than 450 children been killed or injured.
Save the Children said the escalation has meant 63,000 babies born into conditions that could have negative lifelong impacts. New mothers are struggling to bond with their babies due to severe psychological distress, according to Save the Children. This can have a negative and sometimes permanent impact on babies’ attachment to their mothers and their subsequent development. Medical staff have also reported an increase in the number of babies being born prematurely.
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