Words from a midwife in Syria
Sura will never forget seeing a woman in painful labour—with no one to help her—at a displaced persons camp in Syria. That was the day she chose to become a midwife.
Written by Katie Hackett
on May 5, 2025
“I watched her suffering and knew that I needed to help. Our financial situation was terrible, and the constant displacement made it impossible for my husband to secure steady work. But this woman’s pain became my driving force.”
These are the words of Sura*, a mother of six in northwestern Syria. For the last several years—through bombings, displacement and family strain—she has carved out a new vocation as a midwife.
Midwives: critical in every crisis
On May 5, International Day of the Midwife, we honour women like Sura. For countless families worldwide, midwives are irreplaceable figures, ushering infants into the world and guiding mothers through some of our most fragile hours on earth. To be a midwife is a unique and exceptional profession.
The 2025 theme, “Midwives: Critical in Every Crisis,” spotlights those working under the harshest conditions—amid natural disasters, conflicts, and in climate change-devastated regions.
Sura supports a mother who has just delivered a baby at the health centre.
Sura’s path to midwifery
The call to midwifery came to Sura in the chaos of Syria’s ongoing conflict.
“Our village was a place of life once,” Sura remembers, “but repeated bombings turned it into a place of fear. The day we finally left, a shell landed right in front of our house, shaking the ground beneath us. There was no choice but to flee.”
With her husband and children, Sura relocated to a camp for displaced people. At times, when things felt safer, they would return home, only to flee again when bombings inevitably resumed. “Safety was never a guarantee.”
Once they found some stability in Idlib, about 60 kilometres from Aleppo, Sura enrolled in a midwifery institute.
“Despite everything, I graduated,” says Sura. It wasn’t easy. Displaced family members had moved in with them, and Sura was pressed with responsibility on all sides. But through it all, a memory from her time in the camp haunted Sura and propelled her forward.
“A woman went into labour, and no midwife was around. She was in pain for hours until someone finally found a vehicle to take her to the hospital,” she remembers. “This woman’s pain became my driving force.”
The reward of placing a newborn into its mother’s arms is Sura’s favourite part of the job.
Persevering for a job she loves
After graduating, Sura found work at a health centre supported by World Vision’s Syria Response through our partner, the Shafak Organization. The project supports more than 20,000 people, including women and children, with health consultations, deliveries, health education sessions, micronutrient supplements and malnutrition screening.
Sura loves it.
“The best part is the moment when I hand a newborn to its mother. In that brief second, the weight of everything fades—the fatigue, the struggle—it all disappears.”
Holding onto hope—for other women and for herself
“To every girl and woman who hears my story,” Sura says, “I urge you to never stop learning, no matter the difficulties you face.”
Sura recommends midwifery as a profession, describing it as purposeful, fulfilling and a space where women can thrive.
“My greatest hope is that all women remain safe and healthy,” Sura says. “But my personal wish, the one that lingers in my heart, is to return home, to the village where I grew up. I long to see the places where my happiest memories live. Maybe one day, we will go back.”
*Name has been changed to protect identity.
"The best part is the moment when I hand a newborn to its mother. In that brief second, the weight of everything fades—the fatigue, the struggle—it all disappears."