Before the fragile ceasefire began in October, the U.N. reproductive health agency, UNFPA, estimated that 55,000 pregnant women were trapped in “a spiral of displacement, bombings and acute hunger”, without reliable access to care.
Matter of life and death
The impact has been devastating: premature births have increased dramatically, along with miscarriages and stillbirths linked to severe malnutrition, exhaustion and constant fear.
I used the knife to cut the umbilical cord and wet wipes as bandages.
Every day around 130 babies are born throughout Gaza. More than a quarter are born by cesarean section. One in five is born too early or underweight, often with complications that would normally require specialist care.
UNFPA now supports 22 health centres, including five hospitals, and has deployed 175 midwives across the Strip.. “Our support has made a difference,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, UNFPA representative in Palestine, speaking to our UN News correspondent in the enclave.
Maternity wing: “Nothing short of extraordinary”
Visiting Al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest maternity hospital, now largely in ruins, he said its continued operation was “nothing short of extraordinary.”
One of the midwives, Sahar, described how a friend’s premature baby was born in the besieged neighborhood of Zeitoun with nothing more than a kitchen knife heated over a fire. “I had no gloves or tools,” he said. “I used the knife to cut the umbilical cord and wet wipes as bandages.”
She recounted another attempt to reach a woman in labor while drones flew overhead.
“They were shooting at anything that moved. I had to shout instructions from a distance,” he said.
When he reached the woman, the baby was already out, blue and struggling to breathe. “I needed an incubator, but there wasn’t one.”
tragic birth
Owomuhangi said UNFPA is helping to ensure that 98 per cent of births continue to take place in facilities, but warned that 18 births a day are occurring far beyond the doors of hospitals, often with tragic consequences.
Sahar described one such case where a woman suffered hemorrhage after childbirth. “There was no blood, no transportation, no doctor. We couldn’t stop the bleeding,” he said. The mother died, leaving behind her newborn.
UNFPA continues to transport medicines, dignity kits and reproductive health supplies through Egypt wherever possible.
UNFPA commitment
The agency also provides cash assistance to vulnerable women, a helpline for women and youth, and hygiene items and clothing to displaced families.
“We will continue to bring in supplies from around the world,” Owomuhangi said, “until all births in Gaza can occur safely.”