We admit patients with very low birth weights, with respiratory distress and also malformations. Of course, it’s a big challenge for us, because normally these babies die in a couple of days.
Baby Shirin weighed less than 600g when she was born at Duhok maternity, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. “She reached 2kg now and she’s good without oxygen, she doesn’t need any treatment for respiratory distress. For us, she’s a miracle. For the local standards, she’s a miracle,” says the nurse.
At the beginning, the ward only had 18 beds. The number has now risen to 25. AISPO, with the support of the Trust Fund, is responsible for providing new equipment and training, which allow nurses and doctors to serve in the best way they can. “All services in this hospital are free of charge. For the Kurdish people, for IDPs, and the Yezidis… for everybody.”
Healthcare structures in the region are struggling to cope with the massive increase of patients in need of critical care. At the moment, the Duhok hospital serves at least 2 million people. In 2017 alone, the hospital delivered 21,000 babies, an average of 57 per day.