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9th May 2024
05:35pm BST
A midwife from California has shared a video from inside Rafah, highlighting the reality many pregnant people are facing.
In the video, Bridget opens up about the harrowing conditions her and her team are working in as they do whatever they can for birthing people in Rafah.
She explained she is currently working in the last maternity hospital in Gaza, which is something we can barely wrap our heads around, but it's a reality for Bridget, her team and far too many new parents and newborn babies.
Bridget shares, "This hospital was originally built to support the small community of Rafah which was just a couple of thousand people.
"They had on average about 70 births a month and now as there have been over a million people internally displaced to Rafah there are 1500 births a month."
Staff at the hospital have been displaced, they're running out of supplies, and Israel is continuing to block aid and attack innocent people.
"What we are seeing is that pregnancy during genocide means no prenatal care, a lack of diagnosis of prenatal conditions, a lack of diagnosis of congenital issues, and a lack of diagnosis.
"Women are coming in to the hospital to deliver with us and it's the first time they have seen a healthcare provider in their pregnancy.
"We're seeing babies being born with congenital anomalies and the mother had no idea.
"We are seeing mothers who have lost so much. They have lost their family, their entire lives and their homes.
"We're seeing mothers who are too small, too skinny, too thin to be full term and pregnancy. We're seeing babies that are too small and too little to be full term."
"If Israel continues to attack Rafah, Israel will be massacring children. Anything beyond a ceasefire will be a direct attack on children, on pregnant people, on birthing people, on newborns, on babies and on the innocent."
These are people who deserve healthcare, who deserve autonomy and are not getting it because of the horrifying genocide.
Bridget urged everyone who has watched the video to call upon your government, and anyone they can for a ceasefire.
"Palestinians deserve dignity and it is our job to fight in every way possible to make that happen."
