Community of future moms: How one initiative aids Ukrainian mothers through pregnancy and beyond amid war

What's the problem?

Pregnancy is an extraordinary period in a person's life, but it is also filled with fears and anxieties. Expectant mothers worry about the course of their pregnancy and childbirth, their baby's development, their own health, and how their lives will change after the baby is born.

Two years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine gave rise to even more stress and worries for pregnant Ukrainian women, so they have been in dire need of extra support. In a world with air raid sirens, explosions, bad news, fears for loved ones, and daily challenges, the vulnerability of women expecting a baby can increase dramatically.

What's the solution?

The educational project with the cheeky and affectionate name "Puzata Mama," which translates to English as "Round-Bellied Mama," helps pregnant women face the challenges of childbirth and parenthood amid the war. Founder Oksana Kravets says the initiative does everything in its power to make each pregnancy easy, filled with positive emotions and helpful knowledge.

"Despite all the worries and feelings of overwhelming responsibility, daily stress, and anxiety, the best thing we can do is instill hope and ensure that the future mom feels calm and confident," says the project's founder.

How does it work?

The idea for the "Puzata Mama" project emerged in 2011 in Ukraine's northwestern city of Rivne. At that time, Oksana Kravets, the project's founder, was also pregnant.

"Back then, I heard a lot of myths and superstitions about pregnant women. You shouldn't wear makeup, high heels, tight clothes, lie down more, and so on," Oksana Kravets recalls. "I heard these and other pieces of 'advice' from acquaintances, strangers, colleagues, parents, and even doctors, but I wanted to show that pregnancy is not an illness but a joyful time with no place for limitations."

Oksana shared her thoughts with her husband, who suggested that she create something for herself and other pregnant women. This moment marked the beginning of "Puzata Mama." Now, Oksana is the mother of two children: Zlata, 8, and Oleksandra, 13, just like the project.

At the start, Oksana was helped by her colleague Yurii Diuh, who is now an activist and chair of the Responsible Ukrainians Charity Fund, and Oleksandr Kursyk, who had just become a father and now serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2017, the project's initiators founded a public organization together.

"Oddly enough, the project began as a beauty contest for pregnant women. There were even castings. I'm ashamed of it now, but that's how we broke stereotypes — by taking photos, organizing photo exhibitions, and creating content about it," Oksana Kravets continues.

Oksana realized that this format wasn't exactly what pregnant women needed. First and foremost, they needed knowledge. Oksana and her like-minded friends started consulting with doctors, specialists, and mothers themselves and created a course of lectures for expectant mothers. Every year, the course is refined — some things are added, some are removed, but the core of what parents need to know and be able to do remains the same.

The project used to run twice a year — in the fall and spring — but organizers had to limit it to only the spring season during the war. In the first year of the invasion, sessions were held in the bomb shelter of the Organ Hall. Oksana recalls being hesitant about restarting the project during the war because gathering mothers in the shelter was scary. Organizers debated for a long time whether to continue the initiative at all, but after receiving many calls from mothers-to-be requesting lectures, they realized that moms needed support.

Now, expectant mothers gather at the Integration Space in Rivne, an accessible space convenient for moms with strollers. The project is mainly funded by contributions from pregnant women and partners, especially local businesses. However, Oksana Kravets stresses that the project includes many free spots for families of the military, large families, repeat participants, or those who want to join but cannot afford to contribute. The project was free for everyone in the first year of the war.

Today, "Puzata Mama" provides a friendly atmosphere where moms can learn about pregnancy, childbirth, baby care, and parenting. Over three months, pregnant women attend helpful lectures and meetings, participate in sports and other activities, and gain positive emotions as they prepare for the most emotional moment — bringing their baby into the world.

Experts, mainly doctors, share knowledge that helps women prepare for easy childbirth, like:

• Preparation and pain relief during childbirth
• Partner-assisted childbirth
• Breastfeeding
• Newborn care
• Self-care: how to take care of your skin and body
• Basic pre-hospital aid: what every mom should know
• Physical activities for pregnant women

Doctors participate in the project as volunteers. All sessions are held in the evening, allowing working moms to join.

Meetings with moms happen twice a week. The schedule includes physical activities like yoga or pilates and lectures from experienced experts. The lectures are designed to prepare each mom as much as possible for childbirth and the arrival of their baby. 

"We also have meetings with specialists like a vascular doctor and a dentist," says Oksana Kravets. "With family doctors, we discuss vaccination during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and with psychologists, we talk about mental health support. Overall, we conduct more than 20 lectures over three months!" 

According to the founder, the most popular lectures are by gynecologists and pediatricians debunking myths about pregnancy and motherhood, basic pre-hospital aid, and lectures for future dads. Tours of the Rivne Maternity Hospital and the Rivne Regional Perinatal Center are also popular. These tours are an essential part of the preparation for childbirth — women can see delivery rooms, postpartum wards, and conditions, feel the atmosphere of the facilities, and meet the medical staff. Such excursions allow them to choose the medical services they prefer.

One of the highlights of the project is the lectures for dads. In these sessions, men share their personal experiences of fatherhood. They discuss everything from helping their partner in the delivery room and the first meeting with their child to the importance of being present at partner-assisted births. Oksana Kravets says this lecture is meant for those unsure about attending partner births or for men becoming fathers for the first time. This year, the dads' lecture was held online because experts invited to speak are defending their families and Ukraine on the front lines.

"I always say that 'Puzata Mama'  is a project about people. These are the pregnant women who form a strong community, the doctors and experts who come to our lectures, the makeup artists, and the photographers. These are the great project curators and the moms and dads who stay engaged with the project even after their child is born. We are a solid team. I can boldly say that 'Puzata Mama' is now a brand of Rivne," Oksana Kravets proudly says.

The project starts in March with an open call and lasts until June. Even after the three-month course ends, women continue to communicate in chat groups, support each other, and receive consultations from the project's experts. Oksana Kravets also mentions that the project team greets every mom-participant at the maternity hospital with flowers and gifts.

"During COVID-19, we still greeted moms, and now we do so amid the wail of sirens. These are the realities of today. Despite the war, life goes on," says the project's founder.

Does it really work?

"We know well that motherhood is not without its challenges. Women with young children constantly face difficulties, especially now, during the war. We are here to support and help them," the organizers said as they opened the "Puzata Mama-2024" season.

This year, moms attended lectures, sports activities, workshops, and various training sessions.

"Moms created their baby's first toy. We also put a lot of preparation into the photoshoots of our moms. We even had a pregnant women's party," says the project's founder. "In collaboration with the social policy department, we held an outdoor creative workshop where moms painted their children as they felt them. The paintings, guided by a professional artist, turned out beautifully."

"In spring 2022, we had 78 participants. They were not just from Rivne but also internally displaced moms who fled occupied territories or areas with active combat," says Oksana Kravets. "We still keep in touch with them and are genuinely happy when we hear that 'Puzata Mama' was the best thing that happened to them in the first months of the war."

Anastasia Honcharova is one such participant. In spring 2022, she and her family fled the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the southern Kherson region to Rivne.

"When we arrived, I was 13 weeks pregnant. We hoped to return home soon, but the Russians took our city. We had acquaintances in Rivne who invited us," says Anastasia.

Anastasia learned about "Puzata Mama" by chance. She says she was interested in the project because she had never heard of such initiatives before. After joining,  Anastasia was impressed by the valuable and useful information she received about pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.

"I'm delighted that I participated in the project. I learned a lot of new, interesting, and informative things, even though I am a mother of three," says Anastasia Honcharova. "The lectures were in-depth — about childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant sleep. The maternity hospital tour was also interesting, where they explained and showed everything, especially since most of us were in Rivne for the first time and didn't know anything about the place."

Anastasia and her family are abroad now, but she gave birth to her youngest daughter in Rivne. She says "Puzata Mama" continued to support her family after the baby was born, providing diapers, cereals, and vitamins for pregnant women. She keeps in touch with the women she met in the project: "We message each other in our chat where we discuss many issues, uplift each other, and share our experiences."

Another participant who fondly remembers her involvement in the project is this year's graduate, Viktoria Vlasiuk, the wife of a Ukrainian serviceman.

"First, there are many valuable and important lectures on preparing for childbirth and motherhood, meetings with doctors, psychologists, and various specialists who help dispel many questions/myths/fears of a pregnant woman, especially if it's the first time," Viktoria shares. "Second, you get to meet the specialists in Rivne who work with infants and children personally, which makes you feel more at ease about the future. Third, and most importantly for me, it creates a community of pregnant women and future mothers walking this path of conscious parenthood together. This emotional support is indescribable!"

In the 13 years since the foundation, the "Puzata Mama" project taught and supported over 400 pregnant women. Almost every third mother returns to the project during their second pregnancy, and a few have participated three times. The organizers see this as a sign that they are doing something right.

"The nicest thing is that mothers even plan their pregnancies around our project. For example, they ask us when the next course is. They say they missed out last time, so now they are planning a pregnancy and want to participate in the project,"  Oksana Kravets, the founder of the initiative, says, smiling.

More helpful solutions!

Most importantly, the project helps to form an active community of parents in Rivne.

"We all communicate and celebrate birthdays, St. Nicholas Day. Participants become godparents to each other's children," says Oksana Kravets. "Just imagine — complete strangers become so close in three months that they choose each other as godparents for their children!"

Oksana dreams of having "Puzata Mama" in every city, as mothers need this kind of support.

"Often, women feel lonely after giving birth and fear being constantly tied to the child at home, but this is not about our participants," says Oksana Kravets. "Yes, sometimes being a mom is challenging, especially during war. It means hoping that your soldier husband will make it to the birth. It's sending endless parcels or donations. It's thinking about how to survive the winter with a newborn while still pregnant. What if you have to give birth in a bomb shelter? Where should the crib be placed so the baby isn't scared by air raid alarms and is safe? How do you get down from the 9th floor [to the shelter] with a baby when there's no electricity? And there are dozens of such questions…"

Despite the challenges, the organizers and participants of "Puzata Mama" don't stop. They even fundraise for a good cause, like last year, when they raised over ₴40,000 (about $975) for drones. This year, they bought another one.

"Doing such projects today is very challenging. We rely on the incredible belief that everything we do is what is needed now," says founder Oksana Kravets. "The results are very motivating. For example, when [local] doctors say, 'We can immediately tell that a woman participated in 'Puzata Mama' — she is well-prepared and works with us as a team during childbirth.' When husbands thank us for the project because they haven't seen their wives so actively engaged for a long time. Or when, thanks to our lectures, a dad decides to attend partner-assisted childbirth, supports his wife, and doesn't miss the most important moment — the birth of their son or daughter. The words of thanks from mothers and their loved ones are priceless!"