28 deliveries registered at Zaatari camp during snowstorm

AMMAN — Twenty-eight deliveries have been registered among Syrian women at the Zaatari Refugee Camp during the snowstorm, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Saturday.

 The UN agency said all the deliveries were normal and took place at the maternity clinic in the camp between Wednesday morning and  Saturday afternoon.

A polar front accompanied by a depression started affecting the Kingdom on Tuesday night, bringing heavy rain and snow across the country.

Zeina Horani, UNFPA Jordan communications specialist, told The Jordan Times that the agency — in cooperation with partners including the Jordan Health Aid Society — was prepared for this emergency situation and equipped the clinic with two gynaecologists, two midwives and a number of nurses who were available around-the-clock since the start of the snowstorm.

An ambulance was also available to transport cases that might suffer complications to a public hospital in the northern governorates. 

In addition to the deliveries that took place in the clinic, Horani said 12 women were transferred to public hospitals in Mafraq and Irbid to avoid delivery complications.

Since the UNFPA maternity clinic opened in the Zaatari camp last year, the facility has registered 2,300 deliveries among Syrian women, with 220 to 230 deliveries every month.