Lessons in labour

Even in times of unrest and conflict, all women should have the right to be able to get to hospital to give birth safely and in dignity, says MIRIAM DUNN

The escalation of unrest and violence in the Middle East has made it very difficult to focus on anything but the current situation – the bloodshed, anguish and anger that is engulfing both sides.

What has developed into all-out war has finally engaged the attention of the world, although some members of the international community have been more reluctant than others to be drawn into it.

The vast majority of us believe that Israelis must be able to feel secure in their country and that Palestinians have the right to a homeland of their own. It is how to give both sides what they want that is the main sticking point.

But while it is with relief that we witness key global players finally doing their bit, if rather later than some of us would have liked, we should not forget what has triggered this latest upsurge in violence, and indeed, this 15-month old ‘intifada’.

There have been innocent victims and civilian casualties on both sides in the Middle East and these mindless deaths have provoked outrage. We are appalled when a suicide bomber takes apart a bus, a shop or a café, claiming the lives of people who were simply going about their business.

But as the dispute drags on, we must remember that well before this recent crisis blew up, Palestinians have been enduring the humiliation and fear of living under occupation, sometimes with horrific consequences.

It is not just about refugees waiting decades to go home, or people going to the shops in the shade of a patrolling Israeli soldier. The setting up of heavily guarded checkpoints which Palestinians have had to wait hours to try to cross has led to horrific instances of innocent people unable to get urgent medical treatment. Although the casualties of the bloodshed are uppermost in our minds, some of the longterm victims of this situation have been pregnant Palestinian women trying to cross checkpoints to get to hospital for ante-natal care and even to have their babies. This issue was even raised by Yasser Arafat himself when he spoke to journalists while holed up in his Ramallah compound and was a subject raised by women’s rights campaigners when I was in Palestine in November 2000.

An acquaintance I made who works as a researcher at the university spoke of the high number of women who were forfeiting medical attention during pregnancy and having problems getting across borders to hospital to give birth.

Statistics show that since this ‘intifada’ began there has been a worrying rise in miscarriages, stillbirths and births in cars or literally in the open air at checkpoints. During desperate attempts to get to hospital, pregnant Palestinian women have been subjected to degrading searches and forced to strip even when evidently in labour. Women have died because they have been unable to receive emergency medical treatment when complications arose while they were giving birth. Others were left naked in the cold clutching their newborn babies awaiting ambulances.

In fact, according to one human rights organisation, surveys from 1 October 2000 to March 3, 2002 revealed that there were 23 cases of birth at Israeli military roadblocks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Among these, three miscarriages were caused by tear gas grenades and a further three miscarriages were caused by delays and harassment.

Who knows how much worse things have got over the last few weeks.

One woman’s story makes harrowing reading. An expectant mother and her family were trying to cross Hawara's military roadblock, near Nablus on their way to the hospital where she was due to give birth.

She had already undergone the humiliation of having her stomach checked to confirm she was pregnant, when she and the people accompanying her heard shooting in their direction. She warned her husband and hid under the overnight bag which she had prepared for hospital. The shooting continued for five minutes, after which she looked at her husband to find him bleeding heavily from the mouth. He had been killed. The woman was screaming from labour pains and tried to explain to the soldiers that she was about to give birth, but they signalled for her to get out of the car.

She was forced to strip and placed on a stretcher. She thought she was being taken to hospital, but instead she was taken back to the Hawara military roadblock where they put her out in the cold for about an hour. A Palestinian ambulance eventually arrived to take her to hospital where she gave birth. She was later told that she had been shot in the shoulder with a bullet and in the other shoulder with shrapnel.

Everybody wants to see peace established in the Middle East and until that happens, all aspects of violence must be condemned. But in the meantime, human rights violations like this one are intolerable. Any woman who has been through childbirth knows only too well that it can be a frightening experience at the best of times even with our loved ones and the best medical assistance around us.

No expectant mother should be forced to endure unnecessary humiliation or be deprived of healthcare. All women deserve the right to give birth safely and with dignity.