After a long absence of 3 months from Akkar, secondary to the political turmoil in the region, SANA’s team finally headed back to Tal Hayat, in the Akkar Valley, on a mission carried out in cooperation with the World Vision Akkar team (www.worldvision.org.lb).

 

It was with a strong heart that the team finally arrived having travelled roads that only 4 days ago were lined by snipers, but with a very heavy heart at finding so many of the moors filled with wicker-built refugee tents…

 

There was quite an attendance today and so much need exhibited with expectant mothers coming from various regions, some local but others came from far away having been displaced by war...

 

SANA started as usual with general recommendations and guidance to safeguard the mothers and their offspring. And today, SANA paid particular attention to addressing the necessary precautions that the expectant mothers need to follow while fasting during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Educational recommendations prepared by the Lebanese Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology were handed out to the mothers covering medical guidelines to adhere to while fasting throughout the three trimesters of pregnancy.

 

Perhaps this, of all of SANA’s medical missions, is the one mission with the highest number of complicated cases seen. Employing routine scanning today, a patient in the late second trimester was diagnosed with oligohydramnios, another in the early third trimester had polyhydramnios, a suspected placenta previa and she was having preterm contractions with a history of 3 previous cesarean sections. In addition, a mother on her first pregnancy had just contracted toxoplasmosis. Much time was spent in counseling the patients, in addition to making all the necessary medical arrangements for further care and management. Today, prenatal vitamins were made available courtesy of Mr. Dory Mansour.

 

Nurse Mariam Daher, a local from Tal Hayat, accompanied SANA’s team today and was given the basic instructions necessary in prenatal care.

 

And with as much strife as SANA witnessed today, be it as a result of medical or social issues, the team nonetheless headed back home having been soothed by the personal story shared by a new mother-to-be. That patient had been forced to flee her home together with her family and had found refuge in the Akkar Valley. And amidst all her despair, she met her lifelong mate, a local of the valley, and is now in her fourth month of pregnancy. The spark in her eyes and excitement at bearing this gift of life reignited hope and optimism, and reinforced everlasting faith in the power of the cycle of life…