Every year in Ukraine approximately 18,000 children are born prematurely — on average, this is every 12th child. Most of them, after being discharged from the perinatal center, go home without a clear plan for medical follow-up. This is where the gap emerges that catamnestic monitoring is designed to close.
What it is and why it's not "just check-ups"
Catamnestic monitoring is long-term interdisciplinary supervision of a child after discharge from intensive care or intensive therapy units. Its goal is not to treat already existing diagnoses, but to identify risks before they become irreversible. The team typically includes a neonatologist, neurologist, physical therapist, ophthalmologist, and psychologist.
"Catamnestic monitoring makes it possible to identify risks to a child's development in time and redirect them to specialists"
— Association of Parents of Prematurely Born Children "Early Birds"
In Ukraine, such clinics operate primarily at multidisciplinary hospitals or level III perinatal centers. For example, in the Rivne region, the service based on the infant rehabilitation department became available only in July 2024 — and in the first year covered only 30 children out of 135 born prematurely in the region.
Who falls into the risk group — and it's broader than it seems
A common misconception is that catamnestic monitoring concerns only premature infants. In fact, it is also needed by full-term newborns who experienced after birth:
- seizures or intracranial hemorrhages
- sepsis
- surgical interventions
- shock requiring medication to support cardiac function
- deviations from normal neurological examination results at the time of discharge
Children weighing up to 1500 g at birth are in the highest risk group: prematurity is one of the leading factors in the development of infantile cerebral palsy, as well as delayed cardiovascular pathology, metabolic syndrome, and cognitive disorders — risks that may manifest only in adolescence or adulthood.
Where the system's boundaries lie
The main problem is not a lack of knowledge — it is accessibility. Catamnestic clinics in Ukraine are concentrated in regional centers, and even there coverage remains incomplete. Parents from small towns and villages are effectively deprived of structured support after discharge. Following the start of full-scale invasion, the burden on perinatal centers increased, while the number of specialists decreased due to mobilization and migration.
The "Early Birds" Association has been running a free helpline for parents since 2020 and provides consultations on catamnestic monitoring — this essentially compensates for the lack of systematic state communication with families after discharge.
If catamnestic clinics remain primarily regional structures without telemedicine integration, most children from small communities will continue to fall out of supervision — and risks will manifest only when the therapeutic window has closed.
