U.S. Department of State’s “DipNote”: Giving Birth in Ukraine: So Different From My Parents’ Experience
Olya Myrtsalo, a senior development and communication officer in USAID’s regional mission for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, writes about the USAID Maternal and Infant Health Project, which ran from 2003 to 2012 in the region. She recounts her parents’ experiences with maternal and newborn care in Soviet times, comparing them to her improved experience giving birth at a hospital that participated in the USAID project. She concludes, “USAID’s Maternal and Infant Health Project … provided technical assistance for maternal and child care to 20 regions in Ukraine. More than 50 percent of births in the country today directly benefit from those perinatal technologies” (8/31).