The state of health in Iraq has fluctuated during its turbulent recent history. During its last decade, the regime of Saddam Hussein cut public health funding by 90 percent, contributing to a substantial deterioration in health care. During that period, maternal mortality increased nearly threefold, and the salaries of medical personnel decreased drastically.
Every wedding starts with the engagement, the guy see a girl, then if they like each other, he asks for her hand (in other words to get marry), she might be a relative, neighbor, cousin, they might be work mates, or students in the same collage etc. First he goes with his parents to hers, and tells them his desire to ask their daughter to get marry, (if the girl's father is dead, he should go to her eldest uncle).
In the Christian homes an unusual ceremony is held in the courtyard of the home on Christmas Eve.