After over 11 years of war, nearly half of Syria’s health facilities are out of service, leaving many without access to care. Private clinics are expensive, making basic healthcare unaffordable for displaced people.
Al Imaan Hospital in Sarmada, Idlib, is the only maternal and pediatric hospital offering free healthcare 24/7 for women and children. However, running the hospital comes with many challenges, including shortages of medicine, supplies, and staff.
We’ve overcome many challenges in operating a free hospital by collaborating with global organizations like the WHO and UN and working closely with the Idlib Health Directorate to meet staffing needs. We prioritize our medical staff’s well-being with a duty of care policy.
Thanks to your support, we’ve expanded our reach to 1 million displaced people. Our mobile clinic, operating since 2017, and central hospital location ensure accessible care, even in areas with no other aid. Al Imaan provides 4,473 treatments monthly and 53,682 annually.
You’ve entrusted us with your donation so that we can make the most of your mercy. Let’s hear from Rama, Midwife at Al Imaan Hospital, as she explains how your mercy saves some of the most vulnerable mothers and babies in the world.
My name is Rama Al Khatib; I am 47 years old. I work as a midwife at Al Imaan hospital. I have been working in the field of midwifery for twenty-five years, and I have now been in Al Imaan hospital for seven years.
The services provided by Al Imaan hospital are primary care for pregnant women, natural deliveries, incubators, and cesarean deliveries.
Al Imaan Hospital has between 15 to 20 natural births daily, and about 500 cases every month. As for cesarean births, there are approximately 500 births every month.
The types of treatment provided by the hospital to patients are pregnancy monitoring, treatment of gynecological infections, abortions, and [pre-natal] bleeding.
Most of the patients we receive are from the camps surrounding Al Imaan Hospital, which is located in a strategic area. Without this hospital, people are at risk of many dangers, especially pregnant women who would have been at risk of premature births or [pre-natal] bleeding due to the lack of free services at the rest of the hospitals in this area.
A short time ago a patient, Enas Haboush, who was nine months pregnant came to us and was very fearful of giving birth and of not having an incubator. She was very afraid for her babies, so we reassured her.
I was responsible for her birth. She was healthy throughout ; as for her babies, we put them in an incubator to monitor them. They were evaluated by the doctor and were in good health, so they were discharged.
Keeping this hospital free helps those most vulnerable, especially those displaced in the camps who have no money. It helps those most vulnerable by providing primary care for pregnant women, incubators for newborns and a 24-hour pediatrician.
Whenever a sick infant is born, they are evaluated by the doctor and put in the incubator. The presence of Al Imaan hospital greatly reduces the mortality rate for mothers and newborns with the incubators on site.
Any infant born here is sent to the incubation department for an evaluation. If a mother gives birth in the camp, she could lose the baby because of the distance from area medical centers. The presence of this hospital is very important for the residents of the camps here.
Al Imaan hospital provides primary care and family planning. There is also a laboratory for medical tests as well as a nutrition department. Everything is available here in Al Imaan hospital.
I want to thank the supporters who contribute to provide continuous support to this hospital. Not having the hospital would be disastrous and cost human lives.
“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.”
Source - Tirmidhi
I am Enas Salaa Habboush from Keferzita. I have been displaced for nine years in Wadi Abbas camp. I have four daughters.
I suffered a lot at the beginning of my pregnancy. Every day I went to the medical centre here and that they gave me some medicine.
What I suffer from during pregnancy is vomiting and eclampsia. I went to Al Imaan Hospital twice, and they treated us well in terms of administering and providing their services.
When I went, they provided me with psychological support and never made me feel afraid. My eldest daughter is four years old and the youngest is two years old and these twins are less than a month old.
I don't have the ability to pay for diapers for my children. Milk is also very expensive, and I can't provide it for the twins. I have to use formula most of the time instead of milk.
I recommend all patients, especially pregnant women to go to Al Imaan hospital, because the medical care is good and they make the patient feel comfortable, rather than afraid.
When I went to the hospital for my due date, I was very scared, but they offered me psychological support to help with my fears. Even my husband's mother and sister were also afraid, but the nurses comforted us.
After I gave birth to the twins, I went to visit the centre again to treat my daughters because one of them was jaundiced and had to stay in the incubator for four hours. The doctor asked us to see her again for a follow up. He said that their health condition is good. The twins have been vaccinated since the first day they were born.
When I was pregnant, my leg was broken, so when I used to go to the hospital, they gave me a walking stool and helped me moving around so that I would not feel fatigue or pain. The nurses helped me to walk all the time and asked me if I needed anything
One of my neighbors gave birth at Al Imaan hospital a month ago. She recommended I give birth there too because of the good care. She told me that the services in the hospital are available to everyone.
When I went to the hospital for the birth, they put me in the care room so that I would not wait long outside, and they also allowed my husband's mother and his sister to accompany me inside.
What we suffer from now is providing heating for the children, especially as lighting firewood inside the tent is harmful for them. We live in a tent that doesn't protect us from the cold. What I need most for the babies is milk, but I am unable to afford it.
Most of the time, when it rains, the tent gets wet with water, as the rain pours in from all sides.
When it rained a week ago, all our things got wet.
My husband works as a laborer, but he doesn't go to work everyday. When he works, we can take care of our needs, but when he doesn't work, Allah is the one who provides for us.
I was so scared for my due date that I asked the doctor to perform a caesarean section for me so I wouldn’t suffer the pain of childbirth. The midwife told me that I didn't need a caesarean section and that I would give birth naturally without surgery.
What we eat most are eggs, potatoes and what we have at home.
We don't know how to afford the price of bread and milk for our children. We only buy them diapers because we can't afford anything else.
My husband's brothers and sisters gave us some money for my twin daughters, so I bought them milk because it is the thing they need the most.
I hope the supporters will help us to meet all our basic needs, especially milk for the children. I hope that our living conditions will improve and that we will live in a house instead of a tent. What I wish is to obtain income, heating, firewood and milk for my children.
The most difficult thing a pregnant woman faces is her inability to go to a private doctor to monitor her pregnancy, so the presence of free hospitals like Al Imaan makes it easier for us. The doctor’s fee in private hospitals is very expensive. Pregnant women can't pay this. Therefore, they are forced not to monitor their pregnancy at the medical clinic every month.
During my pregnancy, I only went to the doctor twice although I have to monitor my pregnancy every month especially since I was pregnant with twins.
I wasn’t able to go to a private doctor and pay money, so I went to the free hospital. Free hospitals help us a lot. I recommend that pregnant women visit Al Imaan hospital because there is a lot of care there. When I gave birth, all the staff supported me, not just the doctor and midwife.
The midwife told me that she treats me like she treats her own daughter; she took very good care of me. When my twin girls were born, I felt so beautiful and so happy and I forgot all my pain.
I thank Allah for that.
