50,000 pregnant women in Gaza cannot access health services and 5,500 of them will give birth this month.

Laila Baker, Regional Director for the Arab States at UNFPA, told UN News she fears for the fate of new mothers and their children as the conflict enters its second month.

“Over 135 health facilities have been targeted. The remaining health facilities that stay standing have very little medication, no fuel to run electricity. We've had C-sections for emergency deliveries that have been done with little or no anesthesia and on occasion only with the light from a mobile phone,” Baker reported.

“Let me give you the situation of a pregnant woman. You're anticipating bringing a child into this world. If it's your first child, there's a mixed anxiety about what might happen during that delivery, but there's also hope and happiness

“Put yourself in the shoes of that woman when the surgeon says to her, ‘I have no anesthesia, I don't even have water or soap to wash my hands, but I'm going to try and save your life.’

“Even if she survives, there will be no one to help her.”

UNFPA staff have been providing emergency health and safe birth kits to mothers-to-be when we can reach them, thanks to emergency gifts from donors like you.

But the current humanitarian aid reaching Gaza is only a drop in the ocean of what’s needed — tens of thousands of pregnant women and hundreds of thousands more displaced people are counting on your continued support.

Please: Rush an emergency gift today to deliver lifesaving care to pregnant women giving birth against all odds — in Gaza and beyond.

MAKE AN EMERGENCY GIFT

UNFPA condemns the violence in Israel and Gaza and echoes the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages by Hamas, and for the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief at scale that meets the needs of the people of Gaza.

Thank you for meeting this moment with the urgency it demands.

— USA for UNFPA