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Troops deliver child in Tallil tent city
Air Force Link ^ | 10/31/2003 | Master Sgt. Don Perrien

Posted on 10/31/2003 5:38:55 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl

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Troops deliver child in Tallil tent city
Baby Malach
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq -- Army Maj. (Dr.) Elizabeth Shanley (right) spends time with the Alrikabi family (left to right) Moslem, Al'aa, Rafah and baby Malach. Shanley, a physician with the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, delivered Malach, the first child born here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)
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10/31/2003 - TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- The cluster of tents in the corner of tent city here that make up the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group was bustling with unusual activity recently. In facilities designed to support the needs of a deployed combat unit, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support troops gathered together to deliver a healthy 7-pound baby girl to Moslem and Rafah Alrikabi -- the first child born here.

Moslem and his wife, Rafah, had worked with Italian army’s civil affairs agencies to coordinate their trip to the hospital here. The agencies are part of the coalition forces stationed in Al Nasiriyah. For the Alrikabi family, their trip here was only a short stop in a long journey looking for freedom.

After the 1991 Gulf War, Moslem had escaped Iraq and began a new life for himself and his family in America, finally settling down in Dearborne, Mich. After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, he returned to An Nasiriyah to visit and check in with family members he had not seen since leaving seven years ago.

Moslem, Rafah and their first daughter, Al’aa, spent a month reuniting with relatives who they feared had been lost. The family was planning their return to America, but their plan hit a crucial snag when their airline refused to allow Rafah on the plane in her advanced state of pregnancy.

“I came back to see my family,” Moslem said. “Now that Saddam is gone, I thought it was safe to see them again. We wanted (to go) back (to Dearborne to deliver the baby), but it wasn’t possible.”

After making sure the relatives they left behind were safe and cared for, the Alrikabi’s focused their attention on their own family matters. Rafah began having contractions, and they became increasingly closer until they knew the baby was coming.

Staff Sgt. Kent Willette created a makeshift delivery room and nursery from the hospital’s primary care area. Sliding a spare bed out of the way and moving some equipment, he left a single bed alone in the hastily formed cubicle. As an independent duty medical technician, he has made the best of limited resources for the past three months, but making a delivery room in a combat hospital was not exactly what he said he imagined doing at the start of his day.

“I’ve seen a lot of things here, some of them horrible -- but this was beautiful,” Willette said. “I’ve worked (in) labor and delivery for three years, and it’s my favorite thing.

“I was ready to move mountains to make this happen,” he said. “Building a delivery room wasn’t going to be a problem.”

Over in the examination room, Army Maj. (Dr.) Elizabeth Shanley knew she would need the delivery room soon. The physician said she expected to have many chances practicing her medical skills with gunshot wounds and other combat-related injuries, but delivering a baby in an Air Force hospital was not what she thought she would be doing when she deployed from Fort Lewis, Wash.

“This has been a light in my time in Iraq,” Shanley said. “Delivering a child, where we’re at, in these conditions, has made the whole experience worthwhile.”

When the staff saw the Alrikabi family, Rafah was ready to increase the base population by one. About nine hours later, she delivered a daughter, Malach, to the delight of her family and the medical staff.

“I was so glad to have my baby here,” Rafah said. “The doctors took such good care of me. I can never thank them (enough) for their help.”


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: dearborn; goodnews; iraqiamericans; iraqiexiles; medic; tallil

1 posted on 10/31/2003 5:38:55 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: MJY1288; Calpernia; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; Ernest_at_the_Beach; BOBTHENAILER; ...
“This has been a light in my time in Iraq,” Shanley said. “Delivering a child, where we’re at, in these conditions, has made the whole experience worthwhile.”

~~~
Joyful, ping.
~~~

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2 posted on 10/31/2003 5:45:13 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl ("Saddam Hussein is not running Iraq. He is not butchering tens of thousands of people." Rummy,10/27)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
A new life for a new era.

Let's pray for Saddam's capture.
3 posted on 10/31/2003 5:51:27 PM PST by xzins (Proud to be Army!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Welcome to the world baby girl, you have been born in Free Iraq.
4 posted on 10/31/2003 7:09:35 PM PST by McGavin999
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
5 posted on 10/31/2003 7:48:29 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
6 posted on 11/01/2003 9:10:55 PM PST by windchime
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