Médecins Sans Frontières - Pregnancy in east Aleppo (ENG)

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSF180325

Date taken / Date Recorded 18/11/2016 12:00 AM

Country Syria

Commissioning section MSF-SPAIN

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 2m40s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 200.18 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist 00:00:01 Pregnancy in east Aleppo

Intro

00:00:10 This was filmed just before major airstrikes on east Aleppo were relaunched on the 15 November 2016. In the days that followed, hospitals in east Aleppo were hit by bombs, some multiple times, and left out of service.

00:00:25 The continued destruction of hospitals means it has never been harder to find medical care.

MIDWIFE

00:00:37 The sound of a warplane, as usual.

00:00:41 First you hear the sound. Then you hear the blast.

00:00:45 I’ve been working for 27 years.

00:00:48 I’ve been working in this health centre since the siege began.

00:00:53 I work as a substitute doctor, because there are no doctors around here.

00:01:03 The only thing we do is gynaecological examinations.

00:01.07 We don’t have a paediatrician. We don’t have incubators. There’s no medical equipment.

PATIENT

00:01:15 There are almost no hospitals left in east Aleppo. This is my nearest health centre, so that’s why I come here.

00:01:18 The siege has harmed everyone. There is nothing to eat, no food to cook, no food to buy.

00:01:30 I have small children, and they’re sick and in a bad way.

00:01:35 I have nothing at all: no oil, no ghee, no sugar, no rice. Nothing.

00:01:41 Even bread is only available every other day. There are seven of us, and we get 12 rounds of bread.

00:01:47 So we divide it up, and each person gets two or three rounds. We eat one meal in the morning, and then we don’t eat for the rest of the day.

MIDWIFE

00:01:53 A lot of people here are suffering from malnutrition. There’s no food and no nourishment.

00:02:05 This affects the ability of mothers to breastfeed and their milk flow. There’s no food: nothing to nourish the unborn child or its mother.

00:02:17 Some women choose to give birth with just a midwife, mainly because of transport issues and night bombing raids.

00:02:27 There are very few medicines left.

00:02:30 There are no vaccinations; no hospitals; no electricity; no water. There’s nothing left.