Thousands of pregnant women left without essentials in Gaza
Women and girls in Gaza, including 50,000 pregnant women, are enduring an extreme lack in essentials amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and winter setting in.
According to the latest report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Palestinians in the enclave are facing a shortage of food, shelter items, and water amidst deteriorating sanitation and hygiene conditions.
"Harsh winter temperatures, compounded by heavy rains and rising sea tides, are further exacerbating dire water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, sewage accumulation and the spread of disease," the report says, adding that women and girls are increasingly reporting reproductive and urinary tract infections due to poor hygiene conditions and lack of sanitary products.
According to the report, 72 percent of women face difficulty in accessing menstrual hygiene products.
The agency warned that food insecurity and malnutrition are increasing at alarming rates, with around 345,000 people across Gaza, including 38,000 adolescent girls and 8,000 pregnant women, suffering famine-like conditions.
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Food insecurity currently affects 90 percent of the population, with malnutrition rates now 10 times higher than before the current war on Gaza.
'I was not ready for childbirth'
Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the situation, with cases of maternal deaths, miscarriages, pre-term and low-birth weight rising as the healthcare system in Gaza is close to collapsing following relentless attacks by Israeli forces.
According to the report by UNFPA, 84 percent of healthcare facilities have been destroyed, leaving only 17 out of of 36 hospitals partially functioning.
In northern Gaza, where Israel has imposed a siege since the beginning of October, the last major medical facility offering maternal and newborn care, Kamal Adwan Hospital, is besieged by the Israeli army.
The damage to the hospital has left pregnant women struggling to find access to much-needed care, while a number of newborns have died due to the lack of incubators, electricity and medical supplies.
"I was not ready for childbirth. We are very tired," Jawaher, a displaced woman who fled north Gaza, told the agency. She was in labour for two days whilst looking for shelter before reaching al-Sahaba Hospital to give birth.
Safe pregnancies and births have become entirely unfeasible in Gaza due to incessant Israeli bombing. In December 2023, just three months into the conflict, the International Rescue Committee said there were at least 155,000 pregnant or breast-feeding mothers in Gaza who were at high risk of malnutrition.
Women previously interviewed by Middle East Eye indicate hardships in not only the labour process but also in taking care of their newborn children.
"I never imagined I would give birth to my first child away from home and surrounded by air strikes," Israa, a young mother, told MEE
"The place where I gave birth was without any forms of sanitation and hygiene. Yet, I couldn't blame the hospital as the pressures inflicted on doctors and nurses were beyond their abilities."
Since 7 October last year, more than 44,805 people have been killed in Gaza and 106,257 wounded. Around 70 percent of deaths verified by the UN are children and women.
"We have no mattress, no food, no clothes - nothing. We fled the air strikes as we were," Adla, displaced from Jabalia, told the agency.
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