Lying on a small bed at the al-Hayat hospital in central Baghdad, Hind was shaking from the morning bleeding, low blood pressure and the Caesarean section she underwent to deliver her baby.

But she still wanted to go home later in the day. She did not want to be away from her husband and son when the daily bombardment of the Iraqi capital resumes.

Hind only found comfort when she proudly looked at "Decisive," her newborn daughter named after the Iraqi official codename glorifying the confrontation against the US-British onslaught on the country.

"I wanted to name her Decisive after the name of the battle, so that she may bring luck to Iraq in this battle," said Hind, referring to Maarakat al-Hawassem, or "Decisive Battle" in Arabic.

Her mother, Muntaha Hussein, explained that Hind had suffered tremendously from climbing up and down the stairs of their fourth-floor apartment due to power cuts since the war erupted on March 20.

"But she was mostly terrified during bombings, some of which were near the house. She was very tired and distressed in the last few days. She delivered in her eighth month of pregnancy," she said.

Sister Bushra, founder and director of the Catholic Dominican hospital, said miscarriages, premature deliveries and Caesarean sections had risen sharply since the start of the war.

"The round-the-clock anxiety, the physical shock from the bombings, and the fear ... are having a devastating effect on pregnant women," she said.

"We used to have mostly normal deliveries, with a limited number of operations, now it is the opposite," said the nun, wearing a white scarf and a beige, austere dress.

Sister Bushra said miscarriages were mostly increasing among women in their third or fourth month of pregnancy.

"Many women who usually have normal deliveries are even requesting Caesarean sections a week or 10 days ahead of their due dates because of the situation," she said.

"We make them sign letters so that we are not held responsible if something goes wrong," she said.

The US-British bombing that destroyed nearby state buildings has shattered hospital windows and prompted staff to quit.

Sister Clementine, who is in charge of administration, is now also the cook of the two-floor elegant villa, one of the capital's most famous delivery hospitals.

"We had to bring theology college student nuns to help us, but they are doing all the tasks that the staff used to do, including cleaning," said the nun with a smiling, round face.

Saad Socrat is the anesthesiologist who stays at the hospital overnight, along with an obstetrician, since telephone lines were cut in the recent bombings of telecommunication centers in Baghdad.

"Every evening, I bring my wife, three children and mother to sleep at the hospital because they are scared to stay at home without me," he said.

The bombings also forced the closure of the newborn babies' ward.

"During one of the terrible nights of massive bombings in the neighborhood, the mothers started running hysterically toward the babies' ward to protect their infants or make sure there are no mix-ups," said Sister Bushra.

"It was a terrible, terrible sight. Nobody can stop a mother, so we closed the ward and gave each baby to his mother," she said, before breaking into uncontrollable tears.

"Is this how the Americans want their 'liberation' war, by killing unborn children and bombing residential neighborhoods where there are hospitals? This is unacceptable," she said.

SPACE.WIRE