The hardest part was having to carry my daughter while she was asleep and leave our home without knowing where we were going, or what would happen next.
Last night, I experienced a part of what I see every day in the pregnant women I work with in the south.
The fear, the insecurity, and not knowing where you will be a few hours from now.
Last night, my family and I had to leave our home in the Nabatieh District because of the sounds of explosions and Israeli attacks in the area.
It was around 10 p.m. when we packed our belongings and left, deciding to go to my parents’ home in Deir ez-Zahrani, hoping it would be safer.
But around 2 a.m., we woke up to a new Israeli threat against a building in Deir ez-Zahrani. Once again, we had to get up, gather our belongings, and leave.
We stopped on the road for a while, trying to figure out what to do and waiting for the situation to calm down. Then we continued on our way.
This experience was especially difficult for me because I’m not only a mother… I’m also a midwife, and I’m currently pregnant.
Every day in my work with Médecins Sans Frontières, I see pregnant women living in this atmosphere of fear and insecurity. I hear their concerns, and I see how difficult it is for a woman to go through pregnancy while also worrying about her own safety, her family’s safety, and what might happen in the next moment.
Last night, I was the one carrying my daughter and leaving our home without knowing where we would go.
But there are many families in the south living with this feeling continuously.
And as a mother, as a pregnant woman, and as a midwife, I can’t help but think about the pregnant women I see every day, who are trying to go through their pregnancies amid ongoing Israeli attacks and threats.
No mother should have to decide where she will sleep that night, and no pregnant woman should have to go through her pregnancy afraid for her life and the safety of her family.
