MADRE Statements

Palestine: Meeting with Palestinian and Israeli Midwives, Midwives for Peace - Project Update

Posted on: Thursday, August 27, 2009

Keywords: Palestine, Israel, Peace Building, Middle East, Women's Health, Reproductive Rights

Midwives for Peace, MADRE's newest sister organization in Palestine, recently organized two meetings between Israeli and Palestinian midwives: one in Tel Aviv, Israel and the other in Ramallah, Palestine. At the meetings, Palestinian and Israeli midwives got to know each other better and exchanged ideas about how to work together in the future. The meetings were extremely successful, and both groups of midwives expressed their desire to continue building the partnership.

Earlier this month, Palestinian and Israeli members of Midwives for Peace visited the Maythaloon Birthing Center in the northern West Bank and met with the three midwives who now run the center. The center was founded by MADRE's partner organization, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. The midwives shared techniques and strategies for ensuring healthy deliveries and taught one another new positions and movements to use with women during labor.