Humanitarian organization warns of dire health crisis for pregnant women and mothers in Gaza

People inspect the damage caused by an artillery shell that hit the maternity hospital inside the Nasser Medical Complex, on December 17, in Khan Younis, Gaza. Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has issued a warning about the grim situation pregnant women and mothers face in Gaza, amid the collapse of health care in the territory.

With nearly six months of ongoing conflict, these vulnerable groups are struggling to survive, confronting acute shortages of food, water, and medical care, along with the looming threat of famine.

According to the IRC since October 7:

• The daily death toll has included an average of 37 mothers.
• Around 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza now face severe limitations or a complete lack of access to essential prenatal health services, it says.
• The IRC says that of nearly 200 women giving birth in Gaza every day, the vast majority are left without the support of midwives, doctors, or health care facilities during or after delivery.
• Out of 36 hospitals functioning before the conflict escalated, only two of the 12 that are partially operating can offer maternity services.
• The nutritional status of over 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, highly at risk of malnutrition as of December, is believed to have worsened significantly since then, the IRC says.

Arvind Das, IRC's team lead for the Gaza crisis, said women are now forced to give birth in makeshift conditions, among ruins or in overcrowded shelters, due to the unavailability of medical care. The shortage of electricity, medication, medical equipment, and personnel, compounded by Israeli restrictions on aid, has critically undermined healthcare delivery in Gaza, Das said.