World’s leading neonatologists have shared their experience with Ukrainian doctors at the 10th conference of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s Cradles of Hope programme

On November 6-7, 2018, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s programme Cradles of Hope held its 10^th academic and practice conference, themed “Neonatal Intensive Care: the year of 2018 and the near prospects”. The event introduced to Ukrainian neonatologists new trends in intensive care for newborns, including nursing preterm infants.

For 12 years already, the Cradles of Hope project, in addition to providing modern equipment to neonatal centres, has been deploying systemic efforts to train doctors and nurses in world’s best methods of infant nursing. As part of this project, the Foundation promotes introduction of new techniques and practices on the way of reform of the maternal and child health in Ukraine.

Viktoria Cherniavska, executive director of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, said at the opening of the conference: “The Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s programme Cradles of Hope cares that every preterm baby in Ukraine has a chance for life, and that doctors have a possibility to provide help in line with the Western standards. Today, it is the tenth time that we hold this conference for neonatologists where they get familiar with the experience of their international colleagues, and on the 14^th of November, the Foundation will open its 34^th Cradles of Hope center on the base of the Lviv Oblast Clinic Perinatal Center.”

155 specialists of newborn intensive care units from all over Ukraine and representatives of field-specific Departments of the national educational medical establishments took part in the conference. A special lecture session and practical master classes were organized for nurses of neonatal intensive care units at perinatal centers in addition to the main programme.

This year’s reporters at the conference were professor Ola Didrik Saugstad, Oslo University, Norway; professor Steven M Donn, CS Mott Children's Hospital, Michigan Medicine, US; professor Neil Marlow, University College Hospital, London, UK; professor Dirk Bassler, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. The Nurse Section was animated by Dr Martin Wald, Wels-Grieskirchen Hospital, Austria, and nurse Sarah Nadeje, Salzburg State Hospital, Austria.

Tetiana Znamenska, President of the Association of Neonatologists of Ukraine: “I want to say proudly that today, Ukrainian specialists can have discussions on equal terms with their western counterparts. Neonatology has been developing at a high pace in the recent years in our country. Еhe educational events by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s Cradles of Hope programme that continuously enable our doctors to get the most relevant professional information on newborn nursing also play an important role in this progress. Practicing doctors and representatives of the Highest Medical School use the information acquired at the conference on everyday basis.”

Latest amendments to the European neonatal care protocols and a wide range of specialised themes related to use of various types of breathing support, prevention and treatment of respiratory disturbances and complications as a result of long artificial lung ventilation, newborn nursing, preterm newborns follow-up and other aspects were discussed during the conference.

The conference media partner – ICTV – ensures professional filming of all the reports with a consequent editing of the video materials that will be soon made available on the Victor Pinchuk Foundation web site for the professionals in neonatology.

Organised by: the Victor Pinchuk Foundation

Supported by: Association of Neonatologists of Ukraine

General partner: N.Z.Techno

Media partner: ICTV