The overarching theme of the professional visit was “International Expert Exchange as a Practical Tool for Strengthening Neonatal and Perinatal Care Systems.”

The delegation of six healthcare professionals from different regions of Ukraine, including frontline regions, visited three Polish medical facilities and took part in fruitful expert discussions on neonatal and perinatal care.

Neonatology delegation members:

Iryna Kondratova (represents Kharkiv), Advisor to the Head of the National Health Service of Ukraine, Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatrics No. 1 and Neonatology at Kharkiv National Medical University, Candidate of Medical Sciences;

Ihor Zmyslia (represents Sumy), Director of Sumy Regional Children's Hospital

Stanislav Bumbu (represents Kherson), Deputy Director for Medical Affairs of Kherson Regional Children's Clinical Hospital;

Oksana Kapustina (represents Dnipro), Head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with a mobile neonatal team, Head of the Simulation Center at the Regional Medical Center for Family Health of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council;

Nataliia Martianova (represents Mykolaiv), Head of the Pediatric Department for Newborns and Premature Babies at the Mykolaiv Regional Children's Clinical Hospital;

Olena Kostiuk (represents Kyiv), Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Immunology, and Allergology of Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine.

On February 3, 2026, the Ukrainian delegation of neonatologists visited the Instytut Matki i Dziecka in Warsaw and met with its Director, Alicja Karney. In addition, the delegation participated in a professional tour of the Neonatology Department at the Instytut Matki i Dziecka, headed by Paweł Krajewski. Ukrainian and Polish colleagues engaged in lively discussions and compared the neonatal care systems of the two countries.

On February 4, the delegation visited the Instytut “Centrum Zdrowiu Matki Polki” in Łódź. The healthcare specialists met with Dariusz Trzmielak, Deputy Director for Research at the Institute, as well as other respected professors of the institution. It was a pleasant surprise to meet Andrii Kurkevych, a Ukrainian pediatric cardiologist, and Ewa Gulczyńska, a renowned Polish neonatologist, whom the Ukrainian doctors had previously known only virtually.

On February 5, an expert round-table discussion, titled “International Internships as the New Norm: How to Make Quality Training Accessible to Ukrainian Neonatologists,” was held in the Instytut “Pomnik – Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka” in Warsaw. Among the participants were Ukrainian and Polish neonatologists, who joined the discussion both offline and online.

In addition to expert discussions on establishing cooperation between Ukraine and Poland in educational programs for neonatal nurses, as well as on developing recommendations for adapting best practices to the Ukrainian healthcare system, Ukrainian doctors shared their own experiences of working and “surviving” during the crisis.

During their presentations, Ukrainian delegates raised several important issues, including:

- management decisions in perinatal care at the onset of a full-scale invasion;

- hospital financing during wartime, including the experience of hospital management teams;

- achievements and challenges of Ukrainian neonatology under wartime conditions;

- security solutions for hospitals, patients and their families, and medical staff. How the approaches have evolved;

- leadership in neonatology during times of crisis.

Participation in this international roundtable, as well as previous joint activities, brought Ukrainian and Polish healthcare professionals closer together. It became clear that in some Polish facilities, 20–40% of registered pregnant women are Ukrainian refugees who were forced to flee to Poland following the start of the full-scale invasion.

Each Ukrainian delegate expressed sincere gratitude to the Polish people for supporting Ukrainian pregnant women and children, including newborns, and for providing them with safety and care from the very first moments of their lives.

Apart from the Ukrainian neonatologists and their Polish colleagues from the Instytut “Pomnik – Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka”, several renowned Polish healthcare professionals from other institutions joined the round-table discussion online, including Prof. Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka, Polish pediatrician and neonatologist, previous President of Neonatal Society 2010-2018; Prof. Grażyna Iwanowicz-Palus, National Consultant in the field of gynecological and obstetric nursing; Urszula Chrzanowska, National Consultant in the field of pediatric nursing; Michał Dzięgielewski, Pełnomocnik Prezesa Funduszu, Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (National Health Fund); Dr. Eliza Kozyra-Pydys, Cardiology Specialist from Instytut Matki i Dziecka.

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As part of the “International Expert Exchange as a Practical Tool for Strengthening Neonatal and Perinatal Care Systems” visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Poland, a wide range of topics was discussed, including:

- the structure and functioning of Polish neonatal facilities;

- interaction between hospitals, the Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, and the Ministerstwo Zdrowia;

- hospital resilience and preparedness for crises (power outages, emergencies, etc);

- prevention of hospital-acquired infections and neonatal sepsis;

- patient routes and the distribution of patients between medical institutions;

- staffing challenges;

- education and professional development system for neonatal doctors and nurses;

- other pressing issues.

Polish colleagues emphasized the importance of such experience-exchange initiatives with Ukrainian healthcare professionals working under conditions of prolonged systemic crisis and full-scale war.

The practical collaboration and informal communication between Ukrainian and Polish neonatologists highlighted the importance of such experience-exchange initiatives for the healthcare sectors of both countries. Although we currently operate under very different conditions, and our neonatal and perinatal systems are developing in different contexts, there is a wide range of shared challenges and valuable lessons that can be exchanged to strengthen both the Ukrainian and Polish healthcare systems.

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“Ukraine is already facing a demographic crisis, while Poland has not yet reached this point. Since 2014, the birth rate in Ukraine has decreased threefold. That is why every baby and every pregnancy is a treasure to us. This is exactly why we are here on a professional visit with Polish neonatologists – to reflect on what more we can do and what changes we can implement to protect these treasures and return them safely to their mothers. At the same time, we also have much to share. The challenges we face may not stop at Ukraine’s borders, and we can help others avoid the mistakes we have made,” said Iryna Kondratova, Advisor to the Head of the National Health Service of Ukraine and Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatrics No. 1 and Neonatology at Kharkiv National Medical University.

ZDOROVI would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Poland for supporting the professional visit of the Ukrainian delegation. Your assistance was invaluable and made it possible to facilitate effective communication between the two sides.

The professional visit of Ukrainian neonatologists to Poland is implemented with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver Towards Reforms and Democracy Project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia and funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the humanitarian agency ZDOROVI and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden, and ISAR Ednannia.

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