FG – At least 15 women give birth outside health facilities in Gaza each week, often without trained midwives, pain relief or basic medical supplies, the UN reproductive health agency has revealed.
UNFPA estimates 55,000 pregnant women remain trapped in “a spiral of displacement, bombardment and acute hunger,” with premature births, miscarriages and stillbirths rising sharply. About 130 babies are born daily across Gaza, one in five too early or underweight.
The agency said it is supporting 22 health facilities, including five hospitals, and has deployed 175 midwives.
UNFPA representative Nestor Owomuhangi called the continued operation of Al‑Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest maternity center and now largely in ruins, “nothing short of extraordinary.”
Midwives described harrowing conditions. One said she cut an umbilical cord with a kitchen knife and used wet wipes as bandages. Another recounted shouting instructions to a woman in labor while drones circled overhead.
Owomuhangi warned that while 98 percent of births still occur in facilities, 18 a day happen outside hospitals, often with tragic consequences. UNFPA continues to deliver medicines and reproductive health supplies through Egypt and pledges to keep bringing aid “until every birth in Gaza can happen safely.”