Gaza’s women self-inducing labour, giving birth in traumatic conditions
A woman and baby inside a tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, on 18 January 2024
The Palestine Chronicle reports on 10 July 2024:
An estimated 50,000 babies have been born in the Gaza Strip over nine months of conflict, with some women self-inducing labor to avoid giving birth on the move while others are scared to seek vital prenatal care because of fears of bombing, according to the Save the Children organization.
Many women are “giving birth in traumatic, unhygienic and undignified conditions without access to basic services,” and some have lost their lives due to a lack of access to doctors, the organization said earlier this week.
“We’ve seen the continuous stress and misery taking a toll on women, with some making drastic choices such as self-inducing labor using medication out of fear they might lose their babies if they have to flee again for survival,” Sharifa Khan, a midwife with Save the Children’s Emergency Unit said.
Khan said one woman was rushed to the maternity unit with serious obstetric complications after self-medicating before term. “The medication caused her uterus to overstretch and rupture, leading to severe bleeding and a distressed fetus,” she explained. While the team was able to manage the case, had the mother been delayed by just a few minutes in reaching the maternity unit, “the baby’s life could have been lost or the baby could have been born with disabilities due to prolonged lack of circulation. The woman might have lost her life too.”
Untreated Infections
The midwife mentioned another mother who delivered her child safely and was discharged the following day.
However, she was back three days later when her baby was lethargic, had a high temperature, was refusing to breastfeed, and had a swollen umbilical cord that was discharging pus. “This condition is only common in places with poor hygiene and a lack of clean water. It can be life-threatening if untreated as the infection can spread to the bloodstream,” Khan emphasized. “Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case.”