MSF Lebanon: A Pregnant Midwife’s Testimony, "I had to carry my daughter in my arms and leave"

08 September 2026 - Over the last weekend, Israeli strikes intensified across southern Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatiyeh district, with repeated airstrikes and demolitions reported in several towns and villages. The strikes killed 27 people and injured over 69 according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, while homes and other civilian infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, including the Ghandour Hospital in Nabatiyeh Fawqa, which had been out of service for several months but remained equipped.

The escalation has also driven further displacement among communities in the south, adding to the over 375,000 already displaced according to the UN International Organisation for Migration, with residents forced to leave areas affected by Israeli strikes and so-called evacuation orders.

The deteriorating security situation had a direct impact on MSF’s humanitarian operations, including MSF staff, some of whom have been displaced from their homes. Jamila Badran, a midwife with our mobile clinic in Nabatiyeh, and resident of Harouf, was displaced along with her husband (also an MSF nurse) and their young child overnight. She shares the following testimony of the night’s events, and the toll it took on her family.

Jamila's testimony

"The hardest part was having to carry my daughter while she was asleep and leave our home without knowing where we were going, or what would happen next.

Last night, I experienced a part of what I see every day in the pregnant women I work with in the south. The fear, the insecurity, and not knowing where you will be a few hours from now. Last night, my family and I had to leave our home in the Nabatieh District because of the sounds of explosions and Israeli attacks in the area.

It was around 10 p.m. when we packed our belongings and left, deciding to go to my parents’ home in Deir ez-Zahrani, hoping it would be safer. But around 2 a.m., we woke up to a new Israeli threat against a building in Deir ez-Zahrani. Once again, we had to get up, gather our belongings, and leave. We stopped on the road for a while, trying to figure out what to do and waiting for the situation to calm down. Then we continued on our way.

This experience was especially difficult for me because I’m not only a mother… I’m also a midwife, and I’m currently pregnant. Every day in my work with Médecins Sans Frontières, I see pregnant women living in this atmosphere of fear and insecurity. I hear their concerns, and I see how difficult it is for a woman to go through pregnancy while also worrying about her own safety, her family’s safety, and what might happen in the next moment.

Last night, I was the one carrying my daughter and leaving our home without knowing where we would go. But there are many families in the south living with this feeling continuously.

And as a mother, as a pregnant woman, and as a midwife, I can’t help but think about the pregnant women I see every day, who are trying to go through their pregnancies amid ongoing Israeli attacks and threats. No mother should have to wonder where she will sleep that night, and no pregnant woman should have to go through her pregnancy afraid for her life and the safety of her family.

This should not become normal."

-ENDS-