The baby s cry makes me forget the sound of the bombing A midwife from Gaza defies the war

Nurse and midwife Visa Shreim, 65, continues her work in displacement camps in the Gaza Strip, amidst the collapse of the health system and the absence of medical services for thousands of displaced people.

With the bitter cold and the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Visa, known locally as “Umm Saleh,” moves between tents and shelters with a worn medical bag and over four decades of experience. She conducts examinations and oversees births in partially destroyed rooms, sometimes in the open air or inside ambulances that are being targeted by airstrikes.

“Life must go on, even if all of Gaza is bleeding,” Umm Saleh tells Al Jazeera Mubasher with determination.

Despite being retired, this Palestinian woman has not stopped working since the start of the war, transforming from a nurse into a midwife and field medic in areas lacking hospitals and clinics.

She explains to Al Jazeera Mubasher that before the war she dealt with women and children, but things changed after the war.

“We started delivering babies in shelters, schools, and tents,” she says.

The war left its mark on Umm Saleh, who lost her daughter, seven months pregnant, along with her two other daughters, in a single airstrike. Two of her sons were also killed, as were her daughters’ husbands. The war also forced her and her family to flee their homes 13 times.

Despite her immense losses, Umm Saleh remained steadfast in her role, believing that leaving women alone during childbirth is a crime against humanity.

Umm Saleh recounted to Al Jazeera Mubasher one of the mه babies without complications.

Despite the constant danger, Umm Saleh affirmed that her motivation to persevere is “the first cry of life.”

“When I hear my baby’s cry, I forget the sound of the shelling and I forget the