DERIK, Syria (North Press) – The 24-year-old Amina Abbas, a pseudonym for a resident of Fatoma village in the countryside of Tel Kocher, northeast Syria, is still shocked, after knowing that her first child would not be able to open her eyes any more.
“Eight months ago, I gave birth to a girl baby, she suffered from deformation in her eyes, a hole in the heart, atrophy in the brain and a developmental delay,” Abbas told North Press.
She noted that the diagnosis of many pediatricians in the city of Qamishli did not lead to a clear result. Some said the girl suffered from a complete absence of the eyes, and others believed that her eyes were under the skin.
As a result of the deteriorating livelihood condition, the mother cannot take her child for treatment in Damascus.
Unfortunately the rates of congenital malformations and miscarriage have increased in Derik countryside due to environmental pollution caused by the oil refineries, as well as the effects of Wadi al-Amlah rive which is polluted with oil derivatives, according to doctors and local residents.
High rates of deformation
After many miscarriages, Dalya Asker gave birth to a child, but she noticed that he was not growing well.
“My child was very small, he was not growing well, he was skinny and constantly crying.”
The doctors diagnosed the child’s case as a Tachycardia, as a result of the deterioration of his health, the woman took him to Damascus for treatment and there they decided to perform an operation as soon as possible.
“We took him to Damascus for treatment. The doctor told us after seeing the x-rays that the child was in poor health and there was no hope for him to live and he needed a surgery, with 50% survival rate.”
The child now is five years old and he needs a surgery due to an atrial defect, and also his brother has a brain atrophy and delayed movement.
For his part, Faisal Ahmad, a pediatrician in Tel Kocher said that fetal anomalies have increased significantly, such as brain atrophy, hypoxia, limb deformities, and others.
The doctor notes that the rate of asthma patients has increased by five times, as well as allergic rhinitis, due to environmental pollution, which requires great efforts to change the health reality in the region.
Mothers lose fetuses
Maha Hamira, a midwife in Tel Kocher town, also noted the frequent miscarriages among women, “the number of cases reached four or five within one week.”
“In all cases, the fetuses are less than two months old,” adding that women in the region generally suffer from this problem.
Not only human get affected by the pollution, but animals are affected as well, as we notice the change in the taste of milk, due to the permanent disease of cows, and we vaccinate poultry six times a year so that they do not die,” she noted.
Hamira hopes that the concerned authorities would solve “this real problem” due to the unbearable smell of oil derivatives and refineries.
Maha al-Mahdi as the aforementioned women, she miscarried three times in a row nearly four years ago, and two babies of her died after birth, with doctors failed to know the cause.
“In the early months of the gestation I was miscarried, I miscarried three times, in the fourth pregnancy I gave birth to a son and died later.”
The doctor told her the cause was a bacteria in the womb, and after receiving treatment, she gave birth to a healthy baby.
Rodaina Abdulkarim, a gynecologist in the town of Gerke Lege explains exposure to common air pollutants, may increase the risk of early pregnancy loss related to increased inflammation of the placenta and oxidative stress, which can impair fetal development.
The exposure of the pregnant woman to pollutants affects the mother’s blood circulation, especially the main artery feeding the fetus, which affects its size and future growth, according to the doctor.
“The harelip has recently increased among deliveries, growth failure and premature birth, and the rate of deformities reaches 5%,” the doctor added.