Despite the unplanned pregnancy and the danger to her own life, 38-year-old Halyna did not even consider abortion. The woman knew right away that she would give birth at St. Anne’s Hospital in Lviv (formerly Mechnikov Maternity Hospital).
After all, a doctor works here and the mother of many children trusts her unconditionally.
Halyna Karpiak is from the village of Bachiv, Lviv Oblast. She and her husband have always dreamed of having a large family, having grown up in large families themselves. Their first child was born by cesarean section due to medical reasons. Then two more daughters were born in the same way. However, the parents also dreamed of a son.
Despite doctors’ warnings and the danger of another surgery, Halyna and her husband decided to try. And the fourth pregnancy gave them a long-awaited son. All their dreams and hopes came true. Suddenly, last year, Halyna found out that she was pregnant again.
Despite the unplanned pregnancy and the danger to her own life, she did not even consider abortion. And no doctor would have talked her into it.
“Children are my meaning of life, vocation and mission. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. I get up at six in the morning every day: I clean, do laundry, and cook for them. It is physically very difficult. But I do it every day with joy, because I feel that sincere child’s love and attention,” Halyna says about motherhood.
Despite all the risks, her fifth pregnancy went well. Halyna was registered at a local hospital, but from the very beginning she planned to give birth only in Lviv, at St. Anne’s Hospital, better known among the townspeople as the Mechnikov Maternity Hospital. After all, a doctor works here, and the mother of many children trusts her unconditionally.
“I have been working at this hospital for over 20 years. This is the first time in my practice that such a case has occurred – the fifth cesarean section. I have operated on pregnant women for a maximum of four times. Each time, however, it was a great medical challenge. Such operations require high qualifications and training. We always carefully prepare for such cases, conduct additional examinations and involve a large team in the intervention to preserve the health of both mother and child,” says Iryna Kukhayevych, an obstetrician-gynecologist at St. Anne’s Hospital.
On July 30, the fifth child and second boy in the Karpiak family was born by cesarean section. He was born at 37 weeks’ gestation, weighing 2800 g and 50 cm tall. The older children chose the boy’s name and named him Maksym.