10/11/2023
Posted • 50,000 women in Gaza are pregnant, and more than 160 women are expected to give birth every day, the U.N. Population Fund estimated on Nov 3.
But as the humanitarian crisis inside the besieged territory deepens—over 10,000 civilians have now been killed, 40% of them children, according to Palestinian officials—pregnant women and their newborn children are left to bear the brunt of a healthcare system in a state of total collapse.
More than a third of the hospitals and two-thirds of primary healthcare clinics have shut down due to a lack of fuel, and those still operating are overwhelmed with casualties and grappling with critical shortages of clean water, medicine, and other supplies, the UNFPA reports.
“Fear is the common condition of every pregnant woman,” Dr. Bassam Zaqquot tells TIME in a phone interview. But without any proper medical equipment or facilities, he says that all he can do is prescribe basic medication and give general advice. “We are trying to do our best, but we don't have treatment or solutions,” he says. “It's a terrible situation. It's very difficult.”
At the link in bio, learn what pregnant women in Gaza face.
Photographs by Mahmud Hams—AFP/Getty Images; Mustafa Hassona—Anadolu/Getty Images; Belal Khaled—Anadolu/Getty Images
