Yet another Syrian
refugee has sought and received life-saving medical treatment in Israel.
March 11, 23018
A pregnant Syrian woman
was facing an impossible decision – her own death or the death of her unborn
child. She decided to save both by entering Israel to be treated at
Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The decision paid off when she returned home
on Tuesday with a healthy baby boy, The Jerusalem
Post reported Thursday.
In Syria, the woman’s
doctor performed an ultrasound and told her a normal birth would be impossible
and that a C-section would be too risky because it could lead to her death or
the baby’s. Due to previous cesarean deliveries, the baby’s placenta
had become entangled in the mother’s uterine muscles.
She was given a few
options, the first being that she could travel north to a Damascus hospital,
which had more modern facilities, or travel to Israel. She originally
chose to go to Damascus but was blocked by the heavy fighting in the Syrian
civil war.
Facing an impossible
situation if she stayed in her village, the woman left her husband and
children to travel to Israel for treatment.
A few days after her
arrival, she was admitted to the maternity ward at Rambam Medical Center in
Haifa under the care of Prof. Ido Solt, who praised the Syrian doctor’s
diagnosis. Solt, an expert in high-risk-pregnancies, is head of the
maternal-fetal medicine division in the hospital’s obstetrics/gynecology
department.
“A normal caesarean
would have been impossible, as you would have bled to death,” Solt told the
mother, “We will have to do a more complicated procedure.”
Solt worked with doctors
in the vascular surgery and transplantation department to plan a procedure that
most likely could not have been performed in Syria. Two balloons were inserted
into the mother’s uterine arteries to prevent hemorrhaging. Next,
obstetricians performed a C-section, delivering a baby who was transferred to
an incubator in the neonatology department. Other doctors then sutured the
mother’s uterus without complications.
During the first few
days in the maternity ward, the baby fought off infections. Though the mother
was extremely thankful for the medical care she received, she missed
her family back in Syria. She said her husband, whom she had not heard from
since she left for Israel, had no idea if she survived the operation. “Now
my husband will have a wonderful surprise,” she said.
