Cargo unit will help Ukrainian birthing mums during holidays
THERE may have been no room at the inn back in biblical times but a hospitainer transported to Ukraine with Irish help will deliver babies just in time for Christmas.
The medical unit in a 20ft shipping container is designed to give essential obstetric care and health services to pregnant women and victims of sexual violence.
It arrived on the back of a truck in a rural area of the Mykolaiv region, which has been pounded by shelling, leaving maternity services badly damaged.
The delivery was orchestrated by former Irish rugby star, Shane Leahy, through his new charity One4humanity which is sending consignments of vital medical aid to Ukraine.
The maternity clinic unloaded with a crane on the outskirts of a Ukrainian village will be ready for the arrival of newborns by today.
Shane Leahy said: “It’s a full birthing suite, there is a heat lamp on the wall for the babies and weighing scales.
“There are two separate cubicles designed for birthing, it’s wired up for a shower.
“There is an ultrasound which alone costs nearly €50,000. The whole container is worth north of €250,000.”
Mr Leahy, who played for Connacht, Munster and Ireland A, works as an unpaid volunteer for his organisation and covers his own travel costs.
“This hospitainer was donated by an American Charity, Heart to Heart International, one of 16 they have donated, and we have delivered to Ukraine”, he said from the southern border of Ukraine.
“It was being plumbed for hot water this week when I left and will be up and running for Christmas. The clinicians were thrilled with it, it’s serving 15,000 people.”
Irish consultant obstetrician Prof Chris Fitzpatrick, who works with the National Medical University of Odesa, said: “Coming as a Christmas present, it is quite phenomenal.”