“I didn’t choose to become a doctor to see children die. I’m devastated every day and I’m at my limit.”
These are the words of a doctor in charge of neonatal care at a hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
More than 25,000 babies have been born in the Gaza Strip since fighting began last October. A cameraman from NHK’s Gaza office covered the new life and the harsh situation the mothers were in.
(Jerusalem Bureau Chief Yusuke Tamura/Gaza Office Salam Abutahon)
“One person is born every eight minutes” in the Gaza Strip
Salam Abutahon, a cameraman from NHK’s Gaza office, headed to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Emirates Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (February 2024)
Rafah is currently home to nearly 1.5 million people, many of whom have fled Israeli attacks. Fewer hospitals are operating, and the Emirates Hospital, which has an obstetrics and gynecology department, is packed with women waiting to be seen.
UNICEF estimates that more than 25,000 babies have been born in the Gaza Strip since the fighting began last October, or one baby every eight minutes.
In the Gaza Strip, a problem has long been that many babies are born with low birth weight due to factors such as nutritional deficiencies in their mothers, but it has been pointed out that since October last year, this rate has further increased.
This hospital treats more than 60 low birth weight babies every day.
The neonatal intensive care unit has 20 incubators collected from various sources, but it’s still not enough.
Dr. Salama, who is in charge of neonatal medicine, complained about the current situation where treatment is continued with two or three babies sleeping in an incubator originally intended for one person.
Dr. Salama
“Most hospitals in Gaza have stopped functioning and there is no other place to take them, so we have to put two or three babies in single-person incubators.
Some babies die from the cold in tents and shelters, unable to do anything as they are unable to provide medicine or oxygen.
I didn’t choose to become a doctor to watch children die. I’m devastated every day and I’m at my limit.”
“I just want to live in a safe place.”
A couple I met during my interview at Emirates Hospital told me their story.
Her mother, Basila, and her husband, Mahmoud, were at the hospital to check up on their one-month-old daughter Rosol.
Rosol was just born on January 7th and was about a month old at the time.
I couldn’t stop coughing for several days, so I came to this hospital where I gave birth to Rosol using a donkey. The doctor said he had to wait more than six hours for a consultation that normally takes about 30 minutes because of the large number of people seeking treatment.
Rosol-chan (early February 2024)
Basira originally lived in a small town near Khan Yunis in the south.
She was six months pregnant when the Israeli military offensive began last October, and had been living as an evacuee near Khan Younis for a while. Eight months pregnant, she evacuated further south to Rafah last December as the Israeli army expanded its ground operations.
She says she had hoped that the war would be over by the time she gave birth to Rosol, but in January, as airstrikes continued on Rafah, she was hospitalized for a Caesarean section. .
Basila-san
“I had the surgery around 3pm. Normally I would have been in the hospital for a day, but I had to leave the hospital at 7am the next morning.I left Rosol at the hospital because I couldn’t walk properly. I was discharged from the hospital.
Many other pregnant women were visiting the hospital one after another, so we had to free up a bed.”
Basira is currently living in a tent with her husband, daughters ages 4 and 3, Rosol, and other relatives.
In the Gaza Strip, the temperature can drop to below 10 degrees Celsius. The mornings and evenings are still very cold, and the children say they are shivering from the cold.
They also complain that they do not have enough supplies to raise Rosol, such as diapers and milk.
Basila-san
“I don’t eat much either, so I’m not able to breastfeed my daughter enough.However, we don’t have enough powdered milk rations and it’s difficult to receive 10 diapers a week.
As a mother, I want to do everything I can for my child, and provide her with a warm place and anything else she needs, but the current situation where I can’t do that is really painful.
I have evacuated many times because I want my daughter to live in a safe place like other children around the world.”
baby born in hell
“Being a mother is such a joy, but in Gaza it means that your baby will be born into hell.”
This is how a UNICEF representative describes the situation in the Gaza Strip.
In Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million people live, many living in tents, the conditions for children are poor, and there is a growing sense of crisis as the situation worsens day by day.
UNICEF Spokesperson Ingram
press secretary ingram
“Mothers have tremendous anxiety about whether they will be healthy during pregnancy, whether they will be able to give birth safely, and whether they will be able to raise their children safely amid continued airstrikes and humanitarian crises.
There is no longer a safe haven for children and mothers in the Gaza Strip. If a ground operation were to take place in Rafah, it would be difficult for families with young children to find a safe place to receive support to survive. We need a humanitarian ceasefire now.”
Salam cameraman continuing coverage
Since October last year, Salam photographer has left Gaza City, where he had lived with his family and relatives, and has been reporting from his base in Rafah.
In Rafah, only a small number of the more than 1 million evacuees have been able to live in roofed houses, with many forced to live in tents and many sleeping on the streets. This is the current situation.
Salam, a photographer who himself is living as an evacuee in a tent, says, “The people of Gaza are in an extreme situation and are hoping for a ceasefire as soon as possible.”
Salam photographer holding his 1-year-old second daughter
This interview was conducted by photographer Salam, who is also a father of three children, in order to make the Japanese people aware of the Rafah hospital and the plight of the babies.
Dr. Salama has been working non-stop since October last year, and Basira is raising her one-month-old daughter. Both of them agreed to be interviewed because they wanted their voices to be heard outside of the Gaza Strip.
Five months have passed since the fighting between Israel and Hamas began. I will continue to conduct interviews to convey the situation faced by people in the Gaza Strip.
2024-03-08 08:53:00
#baby #born #minutes #hell #NHK
