Employees of two maternity hospitals in Krasnoyarsk are protesting against their closure. They are collecting signatures, recording video appeals to Putin, and trying to get the local Health Ministry to reverse its decisions. Despite pressure and looming layoffs, the employees are not backing down. They have been joined by patients who fear losing maternity hospitals where women are treated with respect. 7x7 spoke to healthcare workers and mothers about how they came together and why they continue to fight even when there is almost no hope left of winning.
Threats instead of dialogue: how the authorities responded to healthcare workers’ protest
In the summer of 2026, midwives and nurses at Krasnoyarsk Maternity Hospital No. 4 learned that the regional Health Ministry had decided to stop providing maternity services at their hospital. The employees created a chat on the state-run MAX messenger to discuss how they could protect the maternity hospital.
The employees were afraid of losing their jobs, but that was not their only reason for protesting. They believed that closing the maternity hospital would increase the workload at the remaining facilities and leave healthcare workers with less time for their patients.
However, according to an activist who agreed to speak to 7x7 on condition of anonymity, head physician Natalia Gruzdeva gained access to the chat, deleted it, and prohibited employees from speaking to journalists. Healthcare workers also reported receiving threats: hospital management warned those who openly opposed the closure that they could face difficulties finding jobs at other medical facilities. Despite the pressure, the employees continued their fight. They appealed to local lawmakers and later joined patients in recording a video appeal to Putin. According to healthcare workers, 30% of the hospital’s staff had already quit by September.
At the same time, employees of Maternity Hospital No. 6 also came out against the closure of their facility. In late August, it emerged that local authorities were planning to shut it down as well. Healthcare workers sent appeals to government bodies and officials, including the Health Ministry, Putin, and Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin. Pregnant women and patients of Maternity Hospital No. 6 joined the protest. During a tour of the maternity hospital for expectant mothers on September 24, they joined healthcare workers in recording a video appeal to Putin asking him to preserve the facility. According to hospital staff, police arrived during the tour after someone reported a possible rally.
The very next day, the head physician of Hospital No. 20, which includes Maternity Hospital No. 6, banned tours for expectant mothers. The regional Health Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed plans to stop providing maternity services at both Maternity Hospitals No. 4 and No. 6. Officials attributed the decision to the declining birth rate, the hospitals operating below capacity, and concern for expectant mothers.
Healthcare workers fear that closing two maternity hospitals at once in a city of more than a million people will increase the burden on the remaining facilities and force ambulances to travel farther with women in labor, including in emergencies. According to hospital staff, even before the reorganization was announced, ambulances were taking women in labor to more distant hospitals despite Maternity Hospitals No. 4 and No. 6 being nearby.
Map by 7x7
Despite the protests, on September 29, the head physician of Hospital No. 20 signed an order to close Maternity Hospital No. 6. The following day, employees received redundancy notices. According to the order, the maternity hospital will stop admitting patients on January 11, 2027, and close permanently on January 15. Maternity Hospital No. 4 will become part of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Center for Maternal and Child Health on November 15 and will also stop handling deliveries starting in January 2027.
The maternity hospital employees were then faced with another question: where would they work? Management offered around 80 vacancies to the 116 employees of Maternity Hospital No. 6. These included just eight positions for doctors, as well as jobs for hospital attendants and cleaners. Some employees were offered jobs in Norilsk or Achinsk.
“We’re not fighting for our jobs, but for the work we love”
Natalia (whose name has been changed), employee of Maternity Hospital No. 6
“The HR department suggested that we leave in December. They would pay us all the severance and compensation we’re entitled to. But we told them we were going to keep working until January. They [HR employees] don’t understand us. Why bother, they say, when we’ll still be paid based on our average earnings? Just stay home and collect the money.
People don’t understand that we care so deeply about our work that we actually want to come in, work our shifts, and help people. And we’re good at it.
Our maternity hospital is our pride and joy. We’ve done everything we can to make our patients comfortable. You know, it’s very difficult to turn a state-run facility into a place where women actually want to come to give birth. But we have bathtubs and a birthing hammock. No other state-run maternity hospital in Krasnoyarsk has those. We designed the maternity hospital around what women need and looked for investors to help us do it. The 2,000 women who give birth here often choose to come to us themselves.
We’re not scared by threats that our actions could make it difficult for us to find jobs afterward. There basically aren’t any jobs in Krasnoyarsk anyway.
We were offered seven positions in Norilsk and four in Achinsk, but who is going to move there? Some people have children, some have elderly parents, and some have families who won’t be able to relocate.
Employees of Maternity Hospital No. 6 recording an appeal to Vladimir Putin. Video screenshot: Afontovo
When we learned that our maternity hospital was going to close, none of us had any doubt that we had to try to save it. And this setback brought us even closer together and made us braver. Of course, we understand that we might lose. But there’s always hope that what we’re doing will somehow make a difference.
Yes, we’re hoping for some kind of miracle. We keep struggling. Maybe someone will hear us. We’re constantly sending appeals and letters to various authorities and lawmakers. We have a chat where we exchange ideas, and everyone suggests something of their own. Our patients have joined us too, mothers who gave birth here. They’re also fighting to save the maternity hospital.
Having people join us gives us tremendous moral support. Despite how sad the situation is, my colleagues and I are actually in great spirits right now because there’s such a sense of unity around us. I don’t know what will happen next. But we still have three months when we can work. Of course, as the saying goes, you can’t get your fill of air before you die. But we still want to try.”
“How could I stay on the sidelines?”
Alexandra (whose name has been changed), a mother of several children who gave birth at one of the maternity hospitals the authorities have decided to close
“I’m one of the women who had a traumatic experience during my first childbirth, back in 2015. The maternity hospital where I gave birth was overcrowded. Some women had to be placed in the hallways because there wasn’t enough space.
The staff were exhausted, barely able to stay on their feet. They simply had no energy left to show empathy toward women in labor. My first childbirth was emotionally traumatic for me, specifically because of the way healthcare workers treated women.
The staff at Maternity Hospital No. 6 were the first to listen to women and start adapting to their needs. I later chose to give birth there myself. They told me, ‘Do whatever makes you comfortable, and we’ll adapt to you.’ And that’s exactly how it was. There was no pressure, and the medical staff took all my wishes into account.
When I heard that maternity hospitals like this, where women in labor are treated with respect, were being closed, how could I stay on the sidelines? Even closing one maternity hospital will increase the workload on healthcare workers. And that means women will face even more obstetric violence during childbirth. The staff will be completely burned out.
The building of Maternity Hospital No. 6 in Krasnoyarsk. Photo: Prospekt Mira
I’m pregnant now, and I’ll still be able to give birth at Maternity Hospital No. 6 before it closes. Sometimes I think that instead of producing oxytocin, I’m running on adrenaline and cortisol. Whenever I receive yet another boilerplate response from officials who have no intention of saving the maternity hospitals from closure, I lose heart.
But I still believe there’s a remote possibility that we can change things. Maybe some high-ranking politician will hear us, someone for whom it wouldn’t be difficult to show some generosity and keep the maternity hospitals open.
As the Stoics say, do what you must, and come what may. We have to do at least whatever is within our power. If we don’t, we’ll never know whether we could have saved the maternity hospitals.”
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Krasnoyarsk is not the only city where residents are fighting to preserve maternity hospitals. Across Russia, authorities are closing maternity wards or ending scheduled deliveries at them, citing declining birth rates and the need to concentrate medical care in larger centers.
In January 2026, residents of Kolchugino in Vladimir Oblast held a rally against the closure of their local maternity hospital and later launched the #GivingBirthInTheField campaign. Authorities had decided to end scheduled deliveries in the town. Women will now have to travel to other cities to give birth, including Vladimir, 80 kilometers away.
In Gus-Khrustalny, another city in Vladimir Oblast, residents tried to challenge the closure of a maternity ward in court. In February, the court suspended an order eliminating 67 staff positions, but according to the plaintiff, the employees were dismissed anyway. Hospital officials maintained that they had acted in accordance with the law. In April, the court refused to overturn the decision to close the maternity ward.
