Front Burner - A pregnant woman’s perilous journey out of Gaza

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

Lubna Al Rayyes, was in the third trimester of a high risk pregnancy when the war in Gaza started. She was frightened of what that meant for her and her baby. How do you plan for your delivery, when you’re living with airstrikes and having to uproot your life? That’s when she connected with reporter Gabrielle Berbey, who documented Lubna’s journey…from attempting to get medical care in a warzone, to trying to make her way to Canada, where she has family. Gabrielle’s reporting is featured in the most recent episode of the critically-acclaimed podcast Reveal, from the Centre of Investigative Reporting.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. I'm very related to my city, you know, I love my city Gaza. And I don't like to leave my family. Why to leave my family? And why to leave my city? Ludna Alraeis, who has family in Canada, is from Gaza City. She's 42 years old and she's a teacher at a prestigious school there. Lubna loves her work. She's got photos of her students

all over social media. I was dreaming about building this city and about teaching and education. But now I think no future for us here. But like thousands of Gazans, Lubna had to flee her home. And she wasn't only thinking about herself when she did that. It's like a nightmare. All the time I'm thinking about it. Especially that I have to deliver my baby by C-section. Lubna was in her third trimester of a high-risk pregnancy when the war in Gaza started. Shortly after, she connected with reporter Gabriel Berbe. Gabriel followed Lubna's journey, wanting to better understand what it meant, practically and emotionally,

to be pregnant when you're in the middle of a war zone? How do you plan for your delivery when you're living with airstrikes and having to uproot your life? Gabrielle's reporting is featured in an episode of the critically acclaimed podcast, Reveal, from the Center of Investigative Reporting. She joins me now. Gabrielle, thank you so much for coming on to the show. Thanks for having me. So tell me about Lubna, this woman that you've been in touch with since mid-November.

She has two teenage daughters. Her husband, who she also met in Gaza City, owns a clothing store there. And two weeks before October 7th, she had a gender reveal party for her third child. It was a surprise because she already has two teenage daughters. She didn't think that she could get pregnant anymore, but she found out just two weeks before October 7th that she's having a baby boy. And when we connected with her, her biggest concern was not only how will I deliver, but how will I get a C-section? So she had C-sections for her two daughters, and she was going to need one again. So that was the biggest concern that she had when we connected with her. And so tell me what happened as the war raged on.

Yeah. So three days into Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza, so this was already October 11th, Lubna had to go to her family's, she had to leave her apartment and relocate to her parents' home in Gaza City. Shortly after that, she and her family and her parents and her siblings and their families all had to go to Khan Yunus because the Israeli military was heavily bombing Gaza City. So when we connected with her in mid-November, she was staying with family in Khan Yunus, but it was already her second time relocating. And at that point, you know, Lubna is, because she's older, because she'll need a C-section, she should have been seeing doctors at least every week. But at that point when we had connected with her, she hadn't seen any doctor at all since October 7th and was very worried about her baby not getting any checkups for her pregnancy. And of course the situation in the hospitals had been incredibly dire.

Was she worried that even if there was an emergency or she needed to get medical help immediately, that it would be an impossible or very difficult task. First of all, Lubna was scared to even go to the hospital because two things. One was getting hit by an airstrike on the way to the hospital. People were afraid to leave their homes. And then if she reached the hospital, she was afraid of picking up any diseases that were spreading throughout the hospitals. So the hospitals were completely overburdened. Infections are and were at that time too extremely prevalent. that hospitals were running out of anesthesia. So there were reports of women having C-sections without anesthesia or with very limited anesthesia.

So it just is like a complete nightmare situation. And for the women who cannot get to the hospital, UNFPA, which is the UN's reproductive rights arm of the UN, had been distributing delivery kits to women in Gaza. And those kits have a bar of soap, a plastic bag, a plastic sheet to deliver on, scissors for cutting the umbilical cord, three pieces of umbilical tape, gloves, and like a little pamphlet basically instructing them how to deliver their own babies, which it's worth noting that for Lubna was not even helpful anyway because she needed a C-section.

But that's just the situation that she was facing and that so many women were facing who did need to deliver. In the weeks that you were talking with Lubna, was she able to see a doctor at all? Was she able to get any medical care? So during the humanitarian pause started on November 24th. During that time, she was able to see, to go to one private clinic. And she sent us a voice memo about a visit to that clinic. And she said she got there. It was filled with women just like her who had been putting off going to a hospital, trying to get any kind of care because they were scared to leave their homes. They couldn't leave their homes. They couldn't get to hospitals for whatever reason any of those people were experiencing.

And she said she went to that clinic and she waited in line for three hours. And just before the doctor was about to see her, the power in the clinic went out. her, the power in the clinic went out. So luckily the doctor had backup power and he said he only had enough backup power to take three women and he took Lubna. So she was able to get an ultrasound. When the doctor told me the ultrasound was normal, I was happy, thanks God. And I asked him about the weight of the baby because we are not having healthy food right now. And he told me everything is okay. But in that ultrasound, she asked the doctor if he had anything, any drugs that could delay her delivery. Because at that point point she had already been experiencing pretty severe contractions from all the stress of the bombings. UNFPA had also reported a rise

in miscarriages and stillbirths from stress. So that was something that was already consistent with what people were seeing on the ground. And then I know at some point you lose touch with her, right? And so tell me, you know, how that happens. When we were talking to Lubna while she was in Khan Yunis, when the humanitarian pause ended, the Israeli military began heavily bombing Khan Yunis. Residents searched for survivors after Israeli strikes reduced homes to rubble near Khan Yunis on Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday, Israel had dropped leaflets over the city in the southern

Gaza Strip, warning residents to leave and seek shelter elsewhere. But many here are already refugees from violence, as Israel told civilians earlier in the war to flee the north and head south. Lumna told us through voice memo at this point, because the phone connection was so bad, I think we're going to have to leave to Rafah. And then by that point, by the time she gets to Rafah, you know, we know that she's in a refugee camp because she tells us, By the time she gets to Rafa, you know, we know that she's in a refugee camp because she tells us, but then we lose contact with her after she tells us that she arrived. We remembered that she had a sister in Canada, and we thought that maybe we could find the sister in Canada and try and figure out if Lubna's okay, if she's alive, if she delivered, what's going on with her. Um, so we had heard through sources, Palestinian sources in Canada, that there was a Palestinian Canadian WhatsApp group who were organizing together to lobby the Canadian government to get their family members out of Gaza. You know, then one person

connected us with someone who knows, you know, the brother or someone who knows the cousin. And then eventually that leads us to a name and a number for Wafa al-Rayis, who is Lubna's sister. And we called Wafa, and this was in the middle of December already so this was about I would say like three weeks until Lumna's delivery in that call with Wafa we find out that Lumna is okay but you know she's still in Rafah and Wafa had also been with Lumna for the first month of the war. Oh, really? But she was able to get out.

So Wafaa was able to get out because Wafaa is a Canadian citizen. Her husband is a Canadian citizen and her kids are Canadian citizens. And Wafaa was stuck in Gaza with her two sons on October 7th. And her husband was in Canada. And at that point, Canada was trying to evacuate Canadian citizens in Gaza. And they were able to evacuate Wafaa in November when they evacuated the first group of Canadian citizens out of Gaza. But the problem was that Wafaa was with Lumna and with Lubna's kids. They had fled from Gaza City to Khan Yunus altogether. And so she essentially had to leave her sister.

She had to leave her sister. I'm going to go. empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo.

50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Tell me more about what that decision was like for her. I don't know if it's a decision. It's just like she has to. She has two kids. She needs to make sure that they're safe.

But it was one that made no sense to her. When I had my name on the list to evacuate Gaza, when I left, I couldn't say goodbye to my mom and dad. I didn't say goodbye to anyone, just to Robna, because we were staying in the same place. And you know, when I left her, it's like, I can't tell you what I felt. It's like I'm leaving her to death.

Her daughter, she keeps telling me, please, aunt, take me with you. Can you imagine what I felt that time? As soon as she got out, she said she went to the Canadian embassy in Egypt and told them, I have a sister. She's seven months pregnant and she's going to need a C-section. Please get her out. So she already, from the moment she got out, was trying to get Lubna out. So she already, from the moment she got out, was trying to get Lubna out. I know at some point the Canadian government introduces this program where, you know, you could come to Canada if you're related to a Canadian citizen. Does Lubna qualify for that? So at that time, when Wafaa got out in November, that program had not launched. And that program had not launched. And that was why that group of Gazan Canadians had been organizing together to lobby the government, lobby their ministers, the IRCC to launch a program.

So when Wafaa got out, Lubna could not get out because Lubna was not a Canadian citizen. But then on December 21st, Canada announced that they would be launching an evacuation program. Many are concerned about the safety of loved ones currently residing in Gaza. It is unlivable. And as such, we'll be supporting temporary residence for extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Gaza so they can come to Canada and be reunited with their family members residing here. But right away, there were problems with it. And that evacuation program was for Canadian family members of Canadian citizens, immediate family members of Canadian citizens that were still in Gaza. But the first problem with the program was they announced it on December 21st,

but then Canada said the program wouldn't launch until January 9th. So that was already when Lumna's delivery was. So for Lumna, WFAW was already thinking this is not going to work. And then in addition to that, the program came with a list of requirements for the applicants. So they wanted them to provide documentation like biometric data, every passport they've ever held, a record of all of their scars on their bodies, and employment history since the age of 16. But the problem was that so many, like Lumna, had fled their houses with just a few minutes warning. So they did not have time to gather all of these documents.

So the barrier to even qualify for the program felt very, very unrealistic to what was actually happening on the ground. Yeah. Yeah. Did Wafa talk to you about her experience communicating with government officials? Were they able to? Oh, yeah. Yeah. She was very, very frustrated. She had called, you know, IRCC's office every day, emailed them every day, basically just asking the same thing. Like the ask is not changing. It's just what she was saying was, I don't even need you to bring Lubna to Canada.

Just get her out before her due date. Like put her on the list to get out. I know there's a list and I know that you can put her on it. And she would get the same message from them every time, which is basically just saying, we're doing what we can and we're very sorry and what made wufa really upset was they would write to her um you know please tell your family to do what they can to stay safe and she was just um furious that that was the response she was very frustrated as were so many gazaan can and Canadians who we spoke to. So we actually spoke to one person, um, on background for the story who tried,

um, she also had a sister in law who was pregnant. Um, this woman who we were speaking to was in Toronto, but she's from Gaza and her whole family was in Gaza. And the sister in law, um, her husband was killed in an airstrike. And when the program

launched, they said that because the husband was killed in an airstrike, the sister-in-law no longer qualified as an immediate relative. So yeah, so the frustration at this program was very widespread. It was not just WFAW. I know you reached out to them, to the Canadian government. What did they tell you? By the end of March, 986 people had applied for the program, but Canada had not been able to evacuate anyone out of Gaza, which they confirmed.

They said that they had helped 32 people who had already made it to Egypt on their own get to Canada, but they were not able to evacuate anyone out of Gaza. Their response was that they were having issues with local authorities, but they would not go into more detail with that. Just to come back to Lubna, I know after some time talking with her sister, you do eventually get back in touch with her. And she does send a voice memo from Rafa, right? So, hi, Gabrielle. Today is Sunday, and now it's 8.20 in the evening. Now it's 8.20 in the evening, and I'm recording from the south of Gaza Strip in Rafah City.

Just tell me what the news is, what she tells you about what's been happening with her. This was very early January, and she was still in Rafah. I wish I could have my baby after everything was finished and I can go back to my home and to have my deliver or my due date safely in my home and in my city, in Gaza City. She said at that point that she was not eating any healthy foods. It was just like any canned goods that they could find um and in extremely stressful conditions they don't know if they're going to be able to

cross over um she she was like not mentally prepared to have her baby in rafa, but Wafa told us that her husband had already been trying to figure out a plan because Lubna was just unable to, understandably. Yeah. But her family was starting to prepare for her to give birth there. And what happened? So Lubna actually got out.

She did not get out through Canada's program. She got out with the help of cousins in Egypt. She and her whole family were able to get out. And this was already past her due date, actually. And by the time she got to Egypt, she had to go right to a doctor because she needed to deliver but when she got to a doctor she asked the doctor if she could have just 10 days until her c-section because she said i'm not ready to have this baby i can't i just i just got out of gaza like the doctor only you know permitted her two days of just being in egypt um before she had to have her C-section.

But she was able to deliver in Egypt. During the surgery, I start crying and crying. And the doctors and the nurses, they are saying, is there something, is there pain? Do you have pain? And I said, no, no, my feelings are not okay. I am emotional. This is not the place I should be in when I have my baby. This is not the place I...

I should be in Gaza in this moment. It should be a nice moment. Lubna, how do you think you're going to tell him about what it was like to carry him? Like, how are you going to tell him about this when he can understand? I think I will tell him everything. story how how how brave he was in my heart and in my belly and how how the difficulties we went through how i feel when when i put him in my hands or that yeah it's a miracle it's he he he comes after yeah and he went out of death really we went me and went out of death. We went, me and him, out of death, out of war.

You know, the stress that these women, women like Lubna, are under, you mentioned earlier, she talked about how there's no food to eat or nutritious food to eat. You know, I know you spend some time reporting on what the long-term impact could be on thousands and thousands of women who are carrying children and giving birth in Gaza. And just talk to me a little bit about what you found. Gaza. And just talk to me a little bit about what you found. So my co-reporter on the story, Salman Ahad Khan, talked to a Dutch researcher, a Dutch doctor, actually. Her name is Dr. Roseboom. And she studied this event called the Dutch Hunger Winter during World War II, which was when Germany basically blockaded any food from entering the Netherlands. And thousands of women were like, there was a famine and

thousands of women were having to deliver and be like, go through their pregnancies during this famine. And Dr. Roseboom and other scientists studied the effect that this famine had on the babies that were born during this period, but not just the babies born during this period, but also the lasting implications of this famine on not just the next generation, but the generation after that. What are the health effects? And they found that babies who are conceived during famine in this time or whose mothers were undernourished while they were still in the womb, those babies' brains were smaller. When they were adults, she said that they were wired in a different way, more susceptible to stress and addiction, a higher risk of schizophrenia. Metabolisms were completely altered at a much higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, higher cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular disease. And then when it comes to the stress, something that I didn't know was

that, you know, the baby's actually protected from stress hormones that the mother has in her own bloodstream. But when the mother is undernourished, there's an enzyme in the placenta that protects the fetus from getting exposed to the stress hormone. But when the woman is undernourished, that enzyme doesn't work properly. So the baby is no longer protected from that stress hormone. So, you know, Dr. Rosbim said that what we saw in Dutch Hunger Winter is something that she fears we will see in Gaza and what that means for the babies who are born into this famine right now. Right. Yeah. Right.

Shaped by war, altered by war, even before they come into the world. Yep. Gabrielle, thank you so much for this. It was difficult to listen to at times, but really important reporting. And so I'm really grateful that you have done this and then also have come on and shared it with us. So thank you. Thanks for having me.

Lubna and her family are currently still in Egypt, trying to make their way to Canada. Baby Faith, named after his grandfather, is doing well. You can check out Gabrielle's reporting on the Reveal podcast from the Centre of Investigative Reporting. You'll find it at revealnews.org or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, that is all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.