Baghdad, Iraq, 18 April 2017 – Amidst harrowing accounts of displaced, including pregnant women escaping military activities in Mosul, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund is supporting static and mobile reproductive health facilities and ‘Women Centres’ in neighbourhoods in West and East Mosul that are now under the control of the Iraqi military forces. It also runs services related to women’s health and wellbeing in camps that host families who have fled the ongoing conflicts in West Mosul.

On 13 April, the maternity wing of Adhba field hospital was inaugurated in the presence of UNFPA’s director for the Arab region, Dr Luay Shabaneh, and its representative in Iraq, Mr. Ramanathan Balakrishnan. Adhba  hospital now serves as the main referral point to static and mobile reproductive health facilities in West Mosul, and provides critical life-saving medical interventions to women facing complicated deliveries and other reproductive emergencies. The maternity wing has twenty beds and an operating theatre for emergencies. The maternity wing in Adhba hospital is well integrated with the trauma wing of the hospital run by WHO.

“To be able to access quality maternal health care in an area where over 300,000 people are believed to be displaced is quite an achievement,” said Dr Shabaneh.

The UNFPA field maternity hospital in Adhba is the result of close cooperation with WHO and provides comprehensive reproductive health care including emergency obstetric services to women and girls

“On the day we were there, a baby was born healthy following a Caesarean-section by extremely dedicated doctors who spotted the complication early enough to be able to respond adequately,’ said Dr Shabaneh. 

The maternity wing of the field hospital is supported by the resources of OCHA Central Emergency Fund (CERF), ECHO and US OFDA. The medical services in Athba hospital are provided by Aspen medical International.

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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

For more information or media inquiries please contact:
Mohamed Megahed; Communication Officer; megahed@unfpa.org