A Midwife’s Mission to Gaza

As birth workers, we are called to hold life sacred – to show up at the threshold with presence, skill and love.

That calling does not end at borders. It does not pause for politics. And in the case of Heba Al-Nashef, a Jordanian midwife from Palestinian and Syrian ancestry, a Canadian national who lives in Vancouver, she applied to enter Gaza to tend to birth in the midst of an active genocide. Her 2 applications got denied and currently she is waiting in Amman, Jordan for a different opportunity to help.

As bombs fall and hospitals are destroyed, while the world turns away, Heba is running toward the devastation to offer care. She is bringing decades of experience, an unwavering commitment to reproductive justice, and a deep love for her people into one of the most dangerous places on earth to give birth.

Heba is not just bringing supplies and skills - she is bringing witness. She is carrying the sacred call of birth work into a place the world has tried to erase. In a time when it would be easier - and safer - to look away, she is choosing to look closer, to lean in, to act.

Donations will go directly toward covering Heba’s travel and living expenses as she waits for entry into Gaza. Any remaining funds will be used to purchase supplies for those who are accepted to enter. These are people putting their lives on the line to bring care, nourishment, and dignity where the world has allowed nothing but devastation.

This is what it means to hold life sacred. To refuse silence in the face of genocide. To meet the threshold, not only with hands ready to catch, but with a heart that refuses to abandon.

Let us follow her lead - not in words, but in action.

Let us show up.

Let us remember.

Let us not look away.