Tiniest babies die, all struggle to survive in post-war Iraq [View All]

A premature infant suffering from a variety of congenial defects is left to die by its parents in an incubator in Baghdad's Yarmuk Hospital. Travis Heying, Wichita Eagle.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Dr. Dalia Hatem was helping to deliver another woman's baby at Baghdad Teaching Hospital when the heat and noise became too much for her. Dr. Hatem went into premature labor.

When the gynecologist saw her own 35-week-old son for the first time last month, there were tears in her eyes. He had been crying - a tiny, shriveled but healthy infant in an incubator - but as soon as he heard Hatem's voice, he quieted.

"The stress of the labor room got to me, and I started to go into contractions," she said. "I tried bed rest and drugs, but it didn't work."

Amid the daily bombings and mortar attacks, life goes on in postwar Baghdad. People continue to have families, even in the midst of one of the most serious security crises since the war began. But that stress and worsening violence are causing infant mortality rates to rise, according to maternity ward doctors and nurses. They say they're seeing more non-hereditary birth defects and premature births.

Women, frightened by lawlessness and economic instability, have an increased likelihood of giving birth prematurely, doctors say. And because more women are afraid to go out, more are giving birth at home.

"Half our population prefers home delivery, for now, because of the security situation. It's a higher risk for the baby, but they are afraid to go out," said Dr. Afrah Saleh, a senior specialist in the 10-room premature unit of Mansur Pediatric Hospital, which allows new mothers to rest beside incubators holding their fragile infants.

"Premature labor has a lot of psychological causes," Saleh said. "Really, we are under stress. Definitely, the premature deliveries are on the increase after the war."

She also said she'd seen three cases of congenital birth defects in the last three months. Usually she sees just one or two a year.

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