Gaza's Expectant and New Mothers Suffer Rising Fetal Loss, Excessive Bleeding, and Breastfeeding Challenges
As a result of Israel's continued assault in Gaza, over 50,000 pregnant women are in danger of losing their lives or suffering serious disabilities since they cannot get the medical care they need.
The harsh assaults meted out by Israeli forces and the accompanying restriction of movement in the Gaza Strip have resulted in severe agony and horror for expecting women.
Most pregnant women have been denied access to basic maternal healthcare services and protections.
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip reported that 8,525 people have lost their lives because of Israel's unrelenting bombing. This number included 3,542 children and 2,187 women. Additionally, since 2019, the number of children murdered annually in all the world's conflict zones has been eclipsed by the number killed in nearly a month's worth of Israeli attack.
Noor, who had fled from her home in North Gaza to Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip said: "I'm exhausted, mentally and physically, and terrified for my unborn baby."
“We left our home in the North and moved to the South as instructed, but we are still living in fear every day with the intensifying bombardment from the Israelis, all of this is reflecting on my pregnancy and my baby,” Noor added.
Noor says it's challenging to get in touch with her gynaecologist because she's also been displaced.
In an interview with The New Arab, Noor Odeh expressed growing concern for the health of her baby and doubts about the viability of her pregnancy due to a lack of access to maternity care and the fact that she has experienced decreased foetal movement in recent days.
Noor, who is seven months pregnant, described the dread of being stuck in Gaza: "It is horrifying, we are trapped with innocent souls inside of us, not knowing our fate."
According to the United Nations Population Fund, there are around 540,000 women of childbearing age in Gaza, 50,000 of whom are pregnant and 5,500 of whom are due to give birth within the next month.
The United Nations Population Fund issued a plea for pregnant women's "urgent health care and protection" last week.
The United Nations reports that throughout pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period, women are more likely to face substantial health threats and face significant barriers when attempting to get health treatment.
Throughout the continuous siege, women in Gaza are faced with enormous problems ranging from insufficient access to secure birth and maternal care facilities to confronting low levels of life-saving resources.
The constant fatal attacks, the constant fear of deadly blows, and the limitations that make even necessities like food and water difficult to get just add fuel to fire.
At the Nasser Government Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian midwife Haneen Ashour told The New Arab, “It is a catastrophic situation for many pregnant women here as dozens are giving birth weeks ahead of their schedule, many are miscarrying and many were killed with their unborn babies.
“Since the start of the attacks we have seen pregnant women overwhelmed with dizziness, lack of nutrition, fatigue, stress, bleeding and endless headaches and back pain,” Haneen explained to The New Arab.
As the number of casualties in Gaza continues to rise, there is growing concern that expecting mothers will be unable to reach emergency obstetric care in time, potentially putting their lives in danger. Conflicts have flared up recently due to reports of shortages of basic resources including food, water, and medicine.
According to Domonic Allen, the UNFPA representative for Palestine, supplies needed for Gaza's medical team to perform crucial obstetric surgeries and treatments, such as mending perineal rips and completing a caesarean section, have also been delayed in the relief convoy.
He indicated that humanitarian supply convoys stuck in Egypt awaiting permission to enter Gaza are carrying individually prepared emergency birthing supplies for at least half of the women anticipated to give birth shortly.
When there is no convenient or secure way to get to a hospital, such kits are what people turn to as a "last resort" for infection prevention during childbirth.
The kits contain a latex examination glove, a bar of soap, a plastic sheet, scissors for cutting the umbilical cord, three pieces of umbilical tape, two cotton cloths for cleaning and covering the mother and child and an instruction pamphlet to help women through the process of giving birth.
Since the major roads in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, it now takes expectant mothers much longer to reach the few remaining hospitals in order to give birth.
Israeli authorities constantly threaten Gaza Strip hospitals. The tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who seek safety and medical care within hospital walls have been warned repeatedly to evacuate, along with hospital staff.
Reports show that many mothers have already lost their unborn children, many are bleeding because they ran in terror of shelling, and many are having trouble producing breast milk because of a lack of nourishment and emotional stability.