Bonded for life: A UNFPA-supported midwifery student in Gaza delivers her own baby sister

GAZA, Palestine – It all happened so fast. One minute, Raneen – then a 23-year-old midwifery student – was noting the beginning of her mother’s labour pains; the next, she was helping deliver her own baby sister.

“I urged my mother to go to the hospital, but she didn't listen," Raneen said. “I was astonished by the speed of the process.”

Around the world, ensuring the safety of both mothers and babies before, during and after childbirth can be a challenging feat. Recent data indicates pregnancy and childbirth-related issues claim the lives of about 800 women each day, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of maternal deaths are preventable.

"It is unacceptable that so many women continue to die needlessly in pregnancy and childbirth,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “We can and must do better by urgently investing in family planning and filling the global shortage of 900,000 midwives so that every woman can get the lifesaving care she needs.”

UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive agency, works across the world to expand and train the world’s ranks of midwives. In Gaza, the agency supports midwifery training programmes aimed at empowering health-care providers with the skills, knowledge and tools necessary to bring life into the world and save people in emergencies.

It was this training Raneen relied on that night in August 2021, as her mother cried out: “Help me! You’re studying midwifery; you can handle it. Don’t let anything happen to your sister”.

Answering the call

Midwives everywhere play a critical role in guaranteeing the health and wellness of women and girls. But the ability of well-trained midwives to help avoid two thirds of maternal and newborn deaths could be especially significant in Gaza, where overlapping factors including the Israeli occupation, poverty, health system limitations and gender inequality put one in four pregnant women at risk of dying in childbirth.

“To be a midwife in Palestine transcends being merely a profession; it is a calling,” says UNFPA Palestine sexual and reproductive health programme analyst Reem Miqdadi.

UNFPA estimates that at least 150 births take place on average in Gaza each day. Although each requires safe and quality care, Gaza’s health system has long been understaffed and overwhelmed – a state of affairs that has only worsened amid COVID-19 and recent military escalations.

It is into this difficult landscape that Gaza’s midwives have stepped up to help women and girls.

“UNFPA is there to equip midwives in their calling and continue to empower them to strengthen sexual and reproductive health services, as we strive to ensure that every woman has access to skilled midwives who can provide safe, inclusive and quality care,” said Ms. Miqdadi.

Learning on the job

Back in August 2021, Raneen had called an ambulance for her mother and was waiting for it to arrive. It had been only two hours since her mother’s labour had begun, but her baby sister’s head was already emerging.

“I realized I had to step up,” she said.

Without sterile nursing equipment, Raneen used plastic bags to deliver her sister, and cut the umbilical cord with a new razor blade. Paramedics arrived just as she delivered her mother’s placenta.

Though Raneen was initially worried that her mother and sister would suffer adverse complications, thankfully, both made it through the experience safe and healthy. Her sister’s name: Wisam, or “medal” in Arabic.

“For me, the delivery was a trophy and a medal,”  Raneen said. "This incident will remain vivid in my memory. Wisam is a symbol of my future success as a midwife.”