Security of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory has been under threat, especially since the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising in September, 2000. The Palestinian Ministry of Health introduced an emergency health insurance scheme for birth-care services in 2001, which provided free access to government hospitals. Researchers aimed to explore the effect of an emergency insurance scheme on proportion of livebirths and place of birth in the West Bank. The study area for our retrospective analysis was the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem district. The target population was women who gave birth between Jan 1, 1999, and Dec 31, 2005. Findings 51 306 livebirths were recorded in 1999, and this number then fluctuated from 54 442 in 2000, to 51 840 in 2001, 41 618 in 2002, 57 040 in 2003, 56 469 in 2004, and 54 146 in 2005. The proportion of livebirths taking place in government hospitals increased from 37% in 2000, to 46% in 2001, after emergency health insurance was introduced.