Breathing for the little ones

Premature and critically ill newborns often begin their lives not with a loud first cry, but with a struggle for every breath.

Their lungs may still be immature. Their breathing may be unstable. Their bodies may be too weak to sustain vital functions on their own. At such moments, doctors, modern equipment, and everything necessary for safe respiratory support must be at the child’s side.

In the UNBROKEN KIDS Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital* in Lviv, they save the most critically ill little patients: extremely premature infants, newborns who have undergone cardiac surgery, infants with brain damage, sepsis, birth injuries, and severe respiratory failure.

The hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit has 12 beds. Each year, approximately 300 children receive care here. Some of them are in critical condition from the very first minutes of life. About 30–40% of the young patients require respiratory support. For some of these children, a ventilator is the only thing that helps them breathe and stay alive.

For a ventilator to operate safely on a newborn, special breathing circuits are required.

A breathing circuit is a system of tubes that connects the baby to a ventilator. It is through this circuit that a mixture of air and oxygen is delivered to the baby, supporting their breathing when they cannot breathe on their own or need assistance.

For newborns, especially premature babies, these circuits must be very delicate, precise, and safe. Their diameter, length, heating, and compatibility with a humidifier are of great importance. After all, the air entering the child’s lungs must not only be delivered correctly but also warmed and humidified. This helps prevent the mucous membranes from drying out, reduces the risk of complications, and maintains more natural conditions for breathing.

Evelina, from the Ternopil region, was born at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 750 grams. Her story spans 147 days in the intensive care unit, 9 months of nursing care, and a team of doctors fighting for one tiny life.

After birth, the baby girl was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. She was too tiny to breathe on her own, eat, or maintain vital functions. Due to severe prematurity, Evelina suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, developed hydrocephalus, and had vision problems. She underwent complex neurosurgical procedures, laser surgery on the retina, and prolonged treatment and rehabilitation.

Today, Evelina is home with her family. She breathes on her own, feeds from a bottle, responds to her parents, and has two older brothers waiting for her at home. This is a tremendous victory for the doctors, her parents, and the little girl herself.

But in the first days and weeks of her life, her survival would have been impossible without respiratory support, without a ventilator and the special circuits for it.

To save children like Evelina, doctors must have everything necessary for every breath. That is why this fundraiser is for little ones like Evelina.

As part of this project, we are raising funds for the urgent purchase of special breathing circuits. These breathing circuits are used in conjunction with systems for humidifying and heating the breathing mixture. A single heating line helps maintain the necessary temperature in the system, while the MR850/730 chamber ensures the humidification of the air delivered to the child during ventilation.

For an adult, breathing seems natural and effortless. For a newborn in the NICU, every breath may require the work of an entire team and properly selected equipment.

These circuits are consumables that are constantly needed in the ward. They cannot be used indefinitely. They must be sterile, safe, and ready for use whenever a child needs immediate care.

We are raising funds for 50 breathing circuits for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv.

This is critical equipment without which it is impossible to provide medical care to children.

Let’s help doctors have everything they need to support the youngest patients in what matters mos t- their first breath, stabilization, and a chance at life.

*Full name of the hospital: Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise "1st Territorial Medical Association of Lviv" Branch "St. Nicholas Hospital".