Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka, MD, Elzbieta Brzozowska, Adriana Misiewicz, Joanna Nycz
Coalition for Preemies is an organization operating in Poland for ten years – initially as a social movement that brought together people and institutions working for the health of premature babies in Poland, and from 2019 as a Foundation.
The goals of the Foundation have been unchanged for many years – to work for the smallest of the youngest – premature babies and their parents. Our goal is education – starting with the health of pregnant women and preventing premature births, ending with the health of premature babies, their development, and rehabilitation. We reach out to parents of premature babies to help them care for their premature babies and to the general public to help them understand that a premature baby is the most vulnerable person who needs our help. Nobody who has not encountered a premature baby in their environment knows what complications the baby and its loved ones face and how much effort is needed to ensure healthy development.
During the pandemic, we got involved with an international campaign initiated by EFCNI #zeroseparation. It aimed to restore the possibility of visiting preemies in neonatal departments for their parents. In Poland, as part of the #zeroseparation campaign, we included parents of preemies in the group “zero” for vaccination against COVID-19 – the group that could be vaccinated first together with medical staff. We wanted parents of premature babies to be protected from the virus as soon as possible and to be able to visit their children in hospitals. It was possible thanks to the immediate decision of the Ministry of Health after we sent a request on this matter.
In 2021, we launched advice for parents of premature babies with specialists as part of the “Ask for a premature baby” campaign – it consists of a telephone conversation or via online communicators. Parents can talk to a neonatologist, psychologist, pediatric neurologist, lactation consultant, and physiotherapist.
Currently, we are involved in helping premature Ukrainian babies. Together with the Neonatus Foundation, the Tęczowy Kocyk Foundation, and the blogger MatkoweLove, we organized a fundraiser.
With the collected money, we finance the purchase of the necessary equipment and medicines for Ukrainian neonatal units and transport the equipment to the neediest hospitals in Ukraine.
The President of our Foundation- Prof. Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka is in constant contact with the national consultant for neonatology in Ukraine, and therefore we know what their needs are. First shipments of medical equipment, drugs, and milk were sent to Lviv, Kyiv, Charkov, Brovary, Ivano-Frankovsk, and Dniepro
There is a fundraiser in the USA: https://fundly.com/relief-fund-for-nicus-in-ukraine?fbclid=IwAR3abHHFs6pszrQKuSnJ147xiFfSRigAgp1_w_OHNdWBo8cp2KH-uTJI2uI
It is also possible to donate to the Coalition for Preemies Foundation: https://www.koalicjadlawczesniaka.pl/numer-konta-fun-dacji-koalicja-dla-wczesniaka-i-dane-do-przelewow-z-zagranicy/
We have also started the “Package for a Newborn” campaign, the purpose of which is to equip Ukrainian babies born in Warsaw with necessities such as clothes for newborns, sizes 50-68, including bodysuits, rompers, socks, hats, nipples, small toys, cosmetics, and hygiene articles.
We also plan to prepare a warehouse of clothes/things useful for newborns, which will be issued in response to the specific needs of single Ukrainian mothers in Poland. From the warehouse, mothers will be able to receive rockers, carriers, scarves for carrying babies, prams, changing mats, bathtubs, and breast pumps.
Since the outbreak of war, we have had over a dozen requests to help in transferring newborns from Ukraine to Poland.
Initially, there were babies of US and UK citizens born in Ukraine, followed by several neonatal transfers or personal admissions of Ukrainian newborns from the border zone brought personally by parents.
Our triage center has different scenarios comprising both stabilization and subsequent transfer to different Polish neonatal/pediatric centers and diagnostic and treatment approaches on site.
Requests regarding medical transfers of premature babies were formulated predominantly by aid organizations, governmental or family activities, and not specifically by medical referrals.
Recently we have received several inquiries about the possibility of admission of newborns/small infants with chronic and/or rare genetic problems. Until now, the utility of the database created for the quick electronic exchange of medical data regarding the transfer of newborns from Ukraine to Poland seems suboptimal as there was perhaps no need for such transfers on a larger scale.
Further information can be found on the Foundation website: https://www.koalicjadlawczesniaka.pl/aktualnosci
- Maria Katarzyna Borszewska-Kornacka
- Elzbieta Brzozowska
- Adriana Misiewicz
- Joanna Nycz
Coalition for Preemies Foundation
- 11 Turkusowa Street
05-077 Warsaw
- Fundacja Koalicja dla wcześniaka Foundation Coalition for Preemied
ul. Turkusowa 11 Turkusowa str 11
05-077 Warszawa 05-077 Warsaw - NIP: 952-219-74-89
KRS: 0000790982
REGON: 383648193
Bank account:
- mBank 48 1140 2004 0000 3002 7899 6040
- IBAN: PL48114020040000300278996040
- SWIFT (klienci indywidualni, firmowi i private banking):
- BREXPL-PWMBK – individual client SWIFT (klienci MSP i korporacje): BREXPLPWXXX-corporation
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.