VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian and Director of BirthLink Kathy Mellor visited the neonatal department at the Republican Institute of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics & Gynecology in Yerevan.

The hospital has been supported by the BirthLink project since 2009.

With more than 3,500 deliveries annually, the hospital receives women, who transported from provinces with pregnancy complications, to ensure safe delivery. The neonatal department is one of the busiest in Armenia, taking care of premature babies and infants with health problems.

This year the hospital was provided with two intensive care unit cots along with additional equipment for the management of respiratory difficulties and an ultrasound scanner for monitoring babies brain growth and development in the first weeks after birth.

“Newborns deserve our attention and dedication. We should not stay indifferent and leave alone the parents, doctors and the society with the alarming problem of high rate of child mortality,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

The project aims to ensure that each maternity facility has the right knowledge and equipment to help survival of the vulnerable newborns. In addition to the equipment provided, education, training and support for the medical staff continues are also organized.

This is now the seventh year of cooperation between BirthLink and VivaCell-MTS

The project was launched in 2008, and has supported twelve neonatal departments in Yerevan and twenty-three departments in seven regions of Armenia with about AMD 535 million support from VivaCell-MTS.