Save the Children has been working with their partner in the region around the clock to keep the bombed maternity hospital in Idlib open. It’s currently operating at a reduced level and only able to support emergency cases and non-surgical deliveries. C-section deliveries cannot be performed because some of the equipment and generators were damaged in the attacks. Repair work is underway.
Medical staff have told that the hospital’s ambulance was damaged during the bombings, but the staff have borrowed one from a nearby facility to transfer women who need c-sections or who are having complicated deliveries to other emergency facilities in surrounding areas. Most of the hospital furniture has been damaged in the attacks, along with three incubators and other critical equipment.
Sonia Khush, Syria Director for Save the Children, said: “We are so grateful for the resilience and resourcefulness of the hospital staff in Idlib, in such tremendously difficult circumstances. They are working around the clock to make sure the hospital continues to support women and children in their hour of need. All labor and incubator rooms have been moved to the underground floors for safety and staff have borrowed a generator and an ambulance from other facilities to help them remain operational. The outpatient department has been closed until further notice, but there are 6 midwives who work at the hospital who also live in the same town who can assist with home deliveries.”
The casualties remain at two people killed, six injured, and a six-month pregnant woman lost both her legs, not just one as was previously reported.
