Thousands of pregnant women left without essentials in Gaza
A displaced Palestinian woman sits with her child in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on 11 July 2024
Mera Aladam reports in Middle East Eye on 11 December 2024:
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.
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.