IRAQ: Violence taking toll on pregnant mothers, infants

A resident of Dora District, one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods of Baghdad, Leila's labour began during the night as clashes flared up near her house, preventing her from getting to hospital.

“We tried to leave our home but the clashes were getting worse and we had to stay, knowing that my baby could die, as the doctor had told me that I would probably need a Caesarean,” she said.

When she finally got to the hospital in the morning and gave birth, her son had suffered brain damage which was affecting his movements - something he might have to contend with for the rest of his life, according to the doctors.

“The violence destroyed the life of my son while he was still in my uterus,” Leila said.

According to doctors, dozens of women in Iraq each day face delivery difficulties caused by violence and the curfew that is preventing access to health care during the night.

“For at least two women in every 12 who seek emergency delivery assistance here, either the mother or her child dies,” Dr Ibrahim Khalil, a gynaecologist at Al-Karada maternity hospital, said.

“The violence destroyed the life of my son while he was still in my uterus,” Leila said.

“Mothers are usually anaemic and children are born underweight as a result of a poor nutrition and lack of pre-natal care,” Khalil said, adding: “There aren't any official figures but we can see that the number [of such cases] has doubled since Saddam Hussein's time.”

For the full article, see here http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73719