Miscarriages triple, healthcare access worsens… the nightmare for pregnant women in Gaza
Living conditions in Gaza documented by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are far from conducive to a safe and peaceful pregnancy. Forced displacement, overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions, acute food insecurity, limited access to safe drinking water and the constant threat of danger all place pregnant women in an extraordinarily precarious situation.
We spoke with Dr Rewaa Nasser, a specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, whose maternity ward relocated to Al-Helou International Hospital in northwestern Gaza.
"Repeated displacement, living in overcrowded conditions, constant psychological stress, fear for one's family and children: these are all factors that negatively affect a mother's health during pregnancy. The difficulty in accessing regular medical care and follow-up examinations also leads to delays in the detection and treatment of certain complications.
Overall, pregnancy in Gaza has become riskier and more complex than before, not because of any single factor, but due to the accumulation of health, psychological, and living conditions that affect both the mother and the foetus throughout the pregnancy."
'Under normal circumstances, many of these complications can be prevented'
Women wait for their turn outside the gynecology and obstetrics office at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on August 10, 2026.
According to figures from the ministry of health in Gaza reported by OCHA on July 23, the number of miscarriages in Gaza has tripled between January and June 2026 compared with the previous six months, with more than 3,950 cases recorded. The miscarriage rate was approximately one miscarriage for every five live births.
Dr Nasser has observed the increase of miscarriages and stillbirths firsthand.
As medical specialists, we have observed an alarming increase in pregnancy losses – including losses at various stages of pregnancy—as well as foetal deaths in utero [stillbirths], compared with what we observed before the war.
We are also seeing an increase in the number of pregnant women coming in with severe anemia, malnutrition, and significant physical and psychological stress.
Under normal circumstances, many of these complications can be prevented through a proper diet, iron and vitamin supplements, and regular prenatal care. However, access to these resources has become more difficult for many women in Gaza at this time.
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Dr Shereen Al-Alawi is a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. She shares Dr Nasser's assessment, and adds that substances from explosives could be a factor in the rise of miscarriages and birth defects. Several studies, including one conducted in Gaza from 2011 to 2019, have documented the negative impact of a mother's prenatal exposure to war debris containing heavy metals, notably an increase in the rates of birth defects and premature births. This photo taken on August 10, 2026 shows the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
'We have witnessed cases in which women were not able to reach the hospital in time'
Often, the struggle to reach the hospital is what puts pregnant women at risk. According to the UN, every week at least 15 women in Gaza give birth outside of any health facility, without pain relief or medical support.
Dr Al-Alawi has been a witness to this hardship, and says the consequences are sometimes fatal.
"Many women face significant difficulties in reaching the hospital due to insecurity, transportation challenges, the state of the roads, and the need to make repeated trips – not to mention the enormous pressure that the remaining operating hospitals face.
We have witnessed cases in which women were not able to reach the hospital in time, and some of them had to give birth outside of any health facility without any medical supervision.
This increases the risks of significant complications for the mother and child, such as haemorrhages, difficult deliveries, neonatal hypoxia, and infections. In some cases, this can lead to the death of the mother or the newborn."
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'We are sometimes forced to deliver babies on the hospital floor'
Hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed. Since the ceasefire was announced on October 10, 2025, 1,254 Palestinians have been killed and 4,121 wounded, according to figures from the ministry of health in Gaza cited by OCHA. There are only 2,000 hospital beds in Gaza, for a population of more than 2 million people, including 50,000 pregnant women. Only 15% of health facilities are able to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care as of March 2026, and these facilities face a shortage of beds and critical supplies caused by conflict-related destruction and Israeli restrictions on medical supplies. Amidst a shortage of beds, patients wait on the floor to be seen by a doctor. This photo was taken on August 10, 2026, at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza.
Dr Al-Alawi is all too familiar with this situation. Nasser Hospital is one of the last health facilities still operating in southern Gaza.
"Every day we admit a very large number of patients, exceeding the hospital's capacity, to the extent that the corridors are packed with sick patients and we are sometimes forced to deliver babies on the hospital floor due to a lack of beds.
The medical staff are doing everything they can, but the shortage of personnel, medicines, medical supplies and equipment is making conditions extremely difficult.
We need more medication, medical supplies, blood bags, delivery beds, equipment to monitor the vital signs of pregnant women and foetuses, neonatal resuscitation equipment, incubators, and surgical equipment. We also need a continuous supply of electricity and water to ensure safe care and deliveries."
A commission of inquiry mandated by the UN Human Rights Council found in a report dated March 2025 that the Israeli authorities had partially destroyed the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to have children by “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians as a group” and by “imposing measures intended to prevent births” – two categories of genocidal acts under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.