Letter to the editor: Perinatal health care workers in Santa Cruz County call for a Gaza cease-fire

We, perinatal health care workers in Santa Cruz County, call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Our work is rooted in supporting families of all backgrounds, religions and politics in receiving medical care that optimizes physical and mental health so that families can thrive. For many of us, this work centers on advocating and caring for those in our community most negatively impacted by systemic injustices. This is not isolated to our individual work, but ripples into our wider communities, including support of global communities, particularly in times of crisis.

We condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The bombing attacks in Gaza have resulted in thousands of deaths of innocent people, including pregnant people, children, medically fragile people and health care workers. These attacks, as well as removing access to water, fuel and food, have resulted in the displacement of thousands of civilians and are causing unfathomable trauma for those who have survived.

The stress of these attacks is directly contributing to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Emergency surgeries have had to be performed without anesthesia. Lifesaving equipment for preterm infants is no longer functional. Families have been unable to find trained professionals to aid in deliveries. These attacks and withholding of basic needs for human survival are inhumane and in direct opposition to the values we hold as health care workers.

Reproductive justice includes access to basic reproductive health services. This is unavailable in Gaza at this time due to the ongoing violent bombardment of neighborhoods and health care facilities – but also to freedom from fear of violence, community with whom to raise children and access to housing, clean water, ancestral foods and land.

As our work centers on dismantling injustices in our immediate context, we must amplify our voices to speak out against injustices in our global community. We demand a cease-fire in Gaza and call on our leaders and representatives in government to do the same.

Brie Buxton, birth doula

Maria Ramos Bracamontes, certified nurse midwife

Madrone Mireille Cervelli, licensed midwife

Mackenzie Douglass, certified nurse midwife

Timmi Pereira, certified nurse midwife

Marea Goodman, licensed midwife, certified professional midwife

Katie Gabriel-Cox, medical doctor, master’s degree in public health

Christiane Vermeersch, licensed midwife, certified professional midwife

Nancy Maldonado, registered nurse, certified nurse midwife

Shannon Purpuri, licensed midwife, certified professional midwife

Kavita Noble, registered nurse, certified nurse midwife

Sarah Levitan, certified nurse midwife