BAGHDAD, 4 April 2003 — When 22-year-old Hind began to bleed heavily yesterday morning, her mother rushed her to hospital for a premature delivery which doctors warn is increasingly becoming the norm under relentless US-British bombardment of Baghdad.
Lying on a small bed at the Al-Hayat hospital in central Baghdad, Hind was shaking from the morning bleeding, low blood pressure and the Caesarean section she underwent to deliver her baby.
Hind only found comfort when she proudly looked at “Decisive,” her newborn daughter named after the Iraqi official code name glorifying the confrontation against the US-British onslaught on the country. “I wanted to name her Decisive after the name of the battle, so that she may bring luck to Iraq in this battle,” said Hind, referring to Maarakat Al-Hawassem, or “Decisive Battle” in Arabic.
Her mother, Muntaha Hussein, explained that Hind had suffered tremendously from climbing up and down the stairs of their fourth-floor apartment due to power cuts since the war erupted on March 20.
“But she was mostly terrified during bombings, some of which were near the house. She was very tired and distressed in the last few days. She delivered in her eighth month of pregnancy,” she said.
Sister Bushra, founder and director of the Catholic Dominican hospital, said miscarriages, premature deliveries and Caesarean sections had risen sharply since the start of the war. “The round-the-clock anxiety, the physical shock from the bombings, and the fear ... are having a devastating effect on pregnant women,” she said.
“We used to have mostly normal deliveries, with a limited number of operations, now it is the opposite,” said the nun, wearing a white scarf and a beige, austere dress. Sister Bushra said miscarriages were mostly increasing among women in their third or fourth month of pregnancy.
“Many women who usually have normal deliveries are even requesting Caesarean sections a week or 10 days ahead of their due dates because of the situation,” she said. “We make them sign letters so that we are not held responsible if something goes wrong,” she said. The US-British bombing that destroyed nearby state buildings has shattered hospital windows and prompted staff to quit.
