At the conference of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's Cradles of Hope programme, neonatologists from all regions of Ukraine discussed their experience of providing care to newborns in complex neonatal cases

On 6-7 November 2025, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's Cradles of Hope programme held its 16th international scientific and practical conference in Kyiv on the topic of ‘Modern experience in providing care to newborns in complex neonatal cases’.

Improving the qualifications of medical personnel, along with equipping partner medical institutions with the latest medical equipment, is an important part of creating a network of modern centres for providing care to newborns, Cradles of Hope.

This year's conference was attended by over 130 leading specialists from all regions of Ukraine and foreign experts: neonatologists, paediatric anaesthesiologists, paediatric neurologists, obstetricians-gynaecologists, representatives of relevant departments of higher medical educational institutions in Ukraine.

During the conference, a number of specialised topics were discussed related to the provision of care to newborns in critical conditions, their thermoregulation, stabilisation in the delivery room, monitoring of water and electrolyte balance in extremely premature infants, the advantages of family-oriented neonatal care, as well as issues of improving the quality of care in conditions of martial law.

The speakers were leading Ukrainian (live) and foreign experts (online), in particular from Japan, Austria, Sweden, Finland, and Croatia.

“I am impressed by the fact that our doctors, who work in extremely difficult conditions and under constant stress, especially those who provide assistance to children in frontline regions and constantly suffer from drone and rocket attacks, not only continue to save children’s lives, but also strive for development and professional improvement.

When the Victor Pinchuk Foundation first launched the Cradles of Hope project, the annual conferences were designed to bring leading global expertise to Ukraine, train our specialists, and showcase the latest technologies in the world. Now, with our country at war, we see how our doctors are developing rapidly and sometimes doing the impossible. That is why a significant part of this year's conference presentations are devoted to the experience of Ukrainian specialists and their achievements," said Svitlana Ryabchenko, Head of the Cradles of Hope programme.

Tetiana Znamenska, President of the Ukrainian Association of Neonatologists and member of the Presidium of the Union of European Neonatal & Perinatal Societies, which is responsible for implementing European standards of care for newborns in Ukraine, noted: "Ukraine is one of the first countries to have complied with all European standards of medical care for newborns for many years. Our colleagues in Europe did not expect that during a prolonged war, Ukraine would maintain mortality and morbidity rates at the same level as before the war. And all this is thanks to the professionalism, dedication and humanity of all neonatal care specialists. And for this, we bow low to you, dear colleagues. Without you, these achievements would not have been possible. I would also like to say a big thank you for not abandoning Ukraine in this difficult time, which has been extremely exhausting for all of us!”

Photos from the event are available here

Conference organiser: Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Partners: All-Ukrainian Association of Neonatologists, N.Z.Techno Trade and Industrial Company.

The conference's information partner, StarLightMedia media group, provided professional filming of all presentations, which will soon be available for viewing on the Cradle of Hope programme website https://www.kolybeli.org/.