Pregnant Women Freeze in Volgograd Prenatal Clinic

Pregnant women at Women«s Clinic No. 4 in Volgograd»s Krasnoarmeysky District are facing extreme cold. After visits to the medical facility, they have to spend hours by heaters to warm up.

One patient shared her experience: «I was on an IV drip for 30 minutes, with small vials, and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably! The medical staff themselves are freezing: I saw they have a heater in the examination room. The girls who have been there longer than me say there was some sort of accident recently. But even before that, it was very cold. The pipes are completely icy. Everyone walks around there in three sweaters, wrapped in scarves. And they make you take off your jacket! They even say: »Bring a blanket, a hat, and mittens so you don«t freeze.»«

The women express concern about how procedures aimed at preserving pregnancy can be conducted under such conditions. They doubt the cold in the clinic will help improve the demographic situation in the region.

Another patient said: «They gave me an antibiotic, and I literally ran to the tram, thinking I»d warm up there. But no, the tram is cold too. I came home and sat by the heater for a very long time, warming up. Now I«m sitting and thinking, how can I avoid catching something. How can you preserve a pregnancy or treat inflammation if it»s such a freezer? Our birth rate has already dropped so much…«

The causes of insufficient heating at Women«s Clinic No. 4 are currently under investigation. The issue has been forwarded to the regional health committee and the company »Concessions of Heat Supply.«

A similar situation was previously reported at the central district hospital in the Uryupinsky District of Volgograd Oblast. There, expectant mothers also complained of unbearable cold in the gynecology department and a lack of hot water.