Dragan Vulin shares his experience supporting parents of premature babies

Dragan Vulin spoke on N1 about his life as a survivor of premature birth to raise awareness for families facing similar challenges.

Born in Bijeljina in 2003, Vulin was born at 28 weeks of gestation. After his birth, doctors gave him a poor prognosis, including a risk of cerebral palsy, but he survived and is healthy today. Vulin spent over three months at the Institut za neonatologiju in Belgrade as a baby.

He shared that while he weighed around 1,120 to 1,130 grams at birth, his weight eventually dropped to a low of 875 grams. He described the survival of such infants as medical miracles and used his personal history to encourage parents to stay strong during periods of uncertainty. The survivor emphasized that parents of premature children face a difficult adjustment to unknown situations and stressed the importance of sharing experiences between families.

To mark International Prematurity Day on 15 November, a public event will take place at Hotel Drina in Bijeljina. The city also plans to light up the Bolnice Sveti Vračevi and the Gradska uprava with dark purple lights. Vulin cited UNICEF data stating that one in ten children worldwide is born prematurely. In Bosnia and Hercegovina, that figure ranges between 5 to 9 percent of all births.