(25 Dec 2019) LEAD IN: A number of charities are working hard to make hats, mittens and socks for premature babies to keep them warm and snug during Russia's bitterly cold winter.
One volunteer worker is even breeding Angora rabbits in order to craft tiny clothes to keep the fragile newborns warm.
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In a perinatal centre outside Moscow in Russia, these two nurses are helping to settle two prematurely-born twins.
The babies - a boy and a girl - were born 28 weeks premature.
They're among an estimated 15 million babies born prematurely each year, according to the World Health Organisation.
It's a figure that works out to be one child in every 10 born worldwide, the WHO says.
Here at this perinatal centre, modern medical science is helping keep these children alive.
The twins' mother Olga Isakova, is grateful - and not just for the hospital's technological marvels.
Today she's receiving a visit from charity executive director Yulia Yermolaeva, who's handing out hand-knitted woollen garments to keep the babies warm.
The medical staff here at the hospital say the simple garments play a vitally important role.
"They don't have thermal regulation centres formed yet, so they cannot keep the warmth for themselves, so these children need such clothes," says Sergey Pryakhin, the Acting Head of the Children's Reanimation Department at the Moscow Regional Perinatal Centre.
Natural wool helps trap moisture, ensuring the babies are comfortable.
Across Russia, volunteers at charities like Yermolaeva's are an essential part of caring for the country's premature newborns.
In fact, in some parts of Russia, even the doctors themselves volunteer their time to knit the booties, mittens and beanies required, given it can be hard to find the right sizes commercially.
And the knitting often has to be done by hand, explains Yermolaeva, because even finding a machine able to knit such tiny sizes can be tough.
"Machine knitting is quicker, and for example it would be much quicker to knit a blanket on a knitting machine than manually. But I think handmade work carries additional warmth and energy, which is definitely passed over and can be felt. This, I am absolutely sure about," Yermolaeva says.
While many of the small woollen garments made for premature babies are spun from sheep's wool, there's one woman in Russia who thinks Angora might be better.
Today, Lada Kirisenko is paying a visit to the perinatal clinic with her delicately knitted beanies, booties and gloves.
The wool is produced from these rabbits at her farm in Korolyov, northeast of Moscow.
She says their wool is perfect for making garments for newborns.
"When I imagined just for a second what a neonatal doctor feels like when he or she comes to work to nurse a 500-gram child, I thought I must do something good for them, I must get acquainted with them, kiss their hands, because I wouldn't be able to do this," she explains.
Kirisenko's venture "Rusangora" is the only stable in Russia of Angora rabbits.
The rabbits are famous for their voluminous pelts, and sometimes strands of their wool which can reach eight centimetres in length.
Each rabbit weights between 4 and 5 kilograms, and each animal can yield 1.5 kilograms of wool per year - enough to knit 150 pairs of baby socks.
Kirisenko shears the rabbits four times a year, a productivity rate higher than sheep, she says.
Sheared rabbits wear waistcoats while their fluff grows back.
At the moment, there are 80 rabbits living in the farm.
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