Reuters Videos
STORY: Obstetrician Nicolas Baaklini works amid the beeps of machines monitoring prematurely born babies in a Beirut hospital. :: Obtained by ReutersBut now he contends with the bursts of bombs falling on his city. And he says he's seen a rise in premature births - and infant mortality - since hostilities ramped up between Israel and Hezbollah.One reason, he told Reuters, is that a bomb blast has enough concussive force to induce premature labor in mothers even at a distance.“If you have a bombing not far away and the pressure that comes to where you are, the building, comes to your belly and puts pressure on your belly, your water breaks. When your water breaks, the contractions start, and even if you're in the 5th month, you're going to give birth. So, you have premature labours, and you can have early miscarriages, but that's due to the bombing, not the stress.”Around 11,600 pregnant women remain in Lebanon, with about 4,000 expected to deliver in the next three months.That’s according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in October.Pregnancy can already be fraught with complications. But the war has meant many are also now displaced, without adequate shelter, nutrition and sanitation.He says he’s had mothers coming for deliveries, only to have no home to return to after. "You deliver her, and then the next day you come and say, "Madam, we have to leave because there are so many women who want to give birth, we need the bed." She says to you, "I don't have a house anymore, but I told you, Doctor, I prefer to sleep another night in the hospital."Access to safe antenatal, post-natal and pediatric care has also become increasingly difficult. The Lebanese government says the Israeli campaign has forced about 1.2 million people from their homes since the conflict intensified in September. ###Amidst the beeps of machines monitoring prematurely born babies, obstetrician Nicolas Baaklini says he’s seen a rise in premature births and fetal deaths since hostilities began last year between Israel and Lebanon. The Beirut doctor says this baby girl and her twin brother were delivered prematurely by a mother who fled her southern Beirut home due to Israeli airstrikes. He says the mother’s early contractions were partly caused by the stress of bombardments.“If you have a bombing not far away and the pressure that comes to where you are, the building, comes to your belly and puts pressure on your belly, your water breaks. When your water breaks, the contractions start, and even if you're in the 5th month, you're going to give birth. So, you have premature labours, and you can have early miscarriages, but that's due to the bombing, not the stress.”Around 11,600 pregnant women remain in Lebanon, with about 4,000 expected to deliver in the next three months.That’s according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in October.Many of the women are displaced and lack adequate shelter, nutrition and sanitation.Access to safe antenatal, post-natal and pediatric care has also become increasingly difficult. Tahani Yassine came from Equatorial Guinea to give birth to her baby in Lebanon. But a few days after arriving, Yassine says she began to regret her decision as Israel intensified its military campaign. (SOT)While she was fortunate to give birth to a healthy baby girl, she says the sounds of war is distressing for pregnant women and babies. But that isn’t the experience for many expectant mothers amidst escalating conflict. Baaklini says all the ICU beds were occupied, likely due to the intensifying bombardments. He says he’s had mothers coming for deliveries, only to have no home to return to after. " You deliver her, and then the next day you come and say, "Madam, we have to leave because there are so many women who want to give birth, we need the bed." She says to you, "I don't have a house anymore, but I told you, Doctor, I prefer to sleep another night in the hospital."The Lebanese government says the Israeli campaign has forced about 1.2 million people from their homes since the conflict intensified in September.
