Refugee Week 2019 – Aaminah’s story

As part of Refugee Week, we are sharing stories about doctors and patients across the globe, with a special focus on post-natal care. Read our first story:

Aaminah, Doctor and volunteer in Slovenia:

“One patient I transferred was a desperately sick little baby who was only two months old and had been born just before his family fled from Syria. He had a respiratory infection, was unable to feed and was in bad respiratory distress.

The parents and baby were travelling together with no extended family members, and we managed to negotiate with the hospital to keep all of them together at the hospital. They had already been admitted in Turkey for a few days during their travels, and I think they knew that their child was still unwell.

The mother was only 20 years old but she was so strong. The pediatrician I referred them to was an amazing old school doctor who spoke excellent English and was clearly very skilled. After a thorough history and examination, her first action was to give the baby a bath. She was amazing at reassuring the parents and was very empathetic; offering them showers and washing all their clothes.

I thought the child would have to be admitted for at least 48 hours and the pediatrician agreed, but it was nice to see the family all together in a safe space in the meantime.”