Our correspondent in the Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah, with her children. (Credit: Rights reserved)
Pregnant during the war and a mother of two little girls, I went through months of constant psychological pressure, marked by fear, anxiety and pervasive tension, as well as a profound sense of insecurity.
This situation also led to difficulties in maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. I lost my appetite and weight and no longer regularly took the dietary supplements prescribed for pregnant women as I had during my previous pregnancies. To the extent that by the eighth month, my doctor began to fear a premature birth or miscarriage.
I continued to work as a war journalist, surrounded by the incessant noise of drones and fighter jets. I also experienced an internal conflict, torn between my professional responsibilities and my role as a mother. I felt guilty both towards the child I was carrying and in my professional life, as I could no longer do my job with the same passion.
When the Bekaa started to undergo bombings, I left Qalia, my village in West Bekaa, where many homes were hit. The thought of losing the house my husband and I built with so much effort terrified me. We moved to a small apartment in Zahle at my parents’ place, as the area seemed safer. We still live there, and my daughters have joined a school in this town, where the cease-fire is intermittent. The Israeli strikes continue, and I refuse to expose them to danger.
I tried to protect my daughters from stress and anxiety-inducing information, which is not easy, given that their father and I both work in journalism. In our apartment in Zahle, we all share the same space when we work, which means the little ones are exposed to the flood of news. In the village, we had more space for them, which allowed us to better protect them. Due to the war, they have been affected by the information and the disruption of their daily lives, as they were deprived of outings and leisure activities they were used to.
