05/02/2003

This woman, who lives in Al-Amarah, has just suffered a miscarriage in her fifth month of pregnancy.  This is her fourth miscarriage.  She has never had a health baby or pregnancy.  She does not know what causes her miscarriages.  She received no prenatal care, vitamins or regular health check-ups.  She is very anemic.  She came to the hospital for emergency treatment because her miscarriage had already begun in her home.  When asked for the cause of these frequent miscarriages, nurses explain that this is not uncommon.  They see many women who have had multiple miscarriages.  The woman sitting next to her also just had a miscarriage, and the woman in the delivery room was giving birth to a stillborn, deformed child.  The nurses say that since 1991 (the Gulf War), there is something in the environment that is causing these problems.  The nurses went on to explain that there are also many miscarriages due to stress, heavy work, and poor sanitation.  A young nurse, wise beyond her years, stated very simply, “There are no babies in Iraq.  All children must think and be like an adult to live due to the conditions here.”