21.10.2025

On the eve of Republic Day, the first Neonatal Surgery Department started its work at the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center. The new Department will enable doctors to save the lives of dozens of newborns from all over the region each year in the first hours after birth. This important stage in further reducing infant mortality in the Atyrau Region was implemented by the AYALA Charitable Foundation supported by Tengizchevroil.

Before the opening of the Neonatal Surgery Department, it underwent modern renovations funded by the government budget: a special air purification and ventilation system and surgical lighting were installed. Support of Tengizchevroil has enabled doctors to work with advanced medical equipment: the resuscitation table is ideal for performing surgical interferences immediately after birth. The anesthesia machine and MAC R32D neonatal-safe X-ray unit, which were delivered directly from the factory in Italy, are already helping surgeons save children’s lives in the most difficult situations.

In the first days of the Department’s operation, two emergency surgeries were successfully performed here, which became an important professional challenge for all of the Center’s neonatologists. One child underwent emergency heart surgery. The child was born at 31 weeks with a diagnosis of hemodynamically significant open arterial duct. Normally, this vessel, which connects the aorta and pulmonary artery during the prenatal period, should have closed in the first hours of life. But this did not happen even after drug treatment. Therefore, the decision was made to perform emergency cardiac surgery, since literally every hour mattered. A cardiac surgery team from the Aktobe Regional Perinatal Center arrived to assist the doctors at the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center.

“Without the Neonatal Surgery Department, we would not have been able to save this child, as he simply would not have survived to be transported by air ambulance. This situation confirmed how important and necessary this project is for our region, commented Kazbek Yermagambetov, Director of the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center.  — Our Center has an excellent team of highly professional neonatologists who successfully operated on newborns even before the Department opening. Due to specialized medical equipment, we will now be able to expand the range of procedures performed, including cardiology, and save even more lives of children who would have no chance of survival without immediate surgical care.”

 An emergency surgery for a diaphragmatic hernia was successfully performed on the second newborn. This is a congenital malformation in which, during the prenatal period, a hole forms in the diaphragm, through which abdominal organs enter the chest, causing respiratory and cardiovascular inefficiency.

The first child was discharged from hospital after a full and successful recovery. The second baby, together with his mother, is undergoing recovery in the Department of Neonatal Pathology. It is expected that neonatal surgeons will help about 35 newborns with severe pathologies every year.

«We are pleased to participate in the opening of the Neonatal Surgery Department in Atyrau ahead of one of the main national holidays – the Republic Day. It is especially important that there are already real results – the lives of babies saved in the first hours after birth. It is a great honour for our Company to support the project, which directly affects the promotion of health of new generations of Kazakhstan. It was implemented within the framework of the Tengizchevroil Social Investment Program in the Atyrau Region. Healthcare projects occupy a special place in it, as they contribute to the medicine development and to the sustainable and prosperous future of the entire region,” – emphasized Aibek Krambayev, General Manager for Government and Public Relations at Tengizchevroil.

The equipment for the Neonatal Surgery Department was donated as part of the Breathe Life Project, which has been implemented by the AYALA Charitable Foundation since 2010 and has proven its effectiveness in reducing infant mortality rates in the country.

«The AYALA Foundation has been helping the government develop new medical areas in the country’s leading perinatal centers for many years. Our approach is always based on finding comprehensive solutions that will work for decades. When we learned that the Atyrau Regional Perinatal Center had highly qualified doctors ready to perform the most complex surgeries on newborns, but they lacked the necessary equipment, we couldn’t stay on the sidelines. After all, the lack of conditions for emergency neonatal surgery meant that babies had to be transported to other cities, and this often cost them their lives. Due to the support of Tengizchevroil, the Center’s doctors now have everything they need to save children right here on site, without wasting precious time. I think that the opening of the Neonatal Surgery Department today is a huge motivation not only for us as the foundation, but also for our partner and all the doctors, to continue our work for the benefit of the country,” – emphasized Aidan Suleimenova, Founder and President of the AYALA Charitable Foundation.