Lebanon's hospitals are running out of medicine and staff in ongoing economic crisis

A baby receives care in the neonatal intensive care unit of the government hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon. Because of the lack of prenatal care amid the country's massive economic crisis, medical staff members say more newborns are born sick and weak. From time to time, when parents don't have the funds to pay for additional care, they go home — and leave their infant stranded at the hospital. (Arezou Rezvani/NPR)

TRIPOLI and BEIRUT, Lebanon — Katya El Rahi is relieved her pregnancy is over.

"I had a herniated disk, and the medication I needed was hard to find,'' says the 27-year-old homemaker, who just delivered her baby and is recovering in the maternity ward of Tripoli's government hospital. "And when I did find it, it was super-expensive."