Gaza (UNA/WAFA) – The suffering of pregnant women in the Gaza Strip is not limited to the pains of pregnancy, fatigue, and stress resulting from thinking about the hour of labor and delivery, and the hardship that follows. Rather, the suffering has become more severe with the specter of famine haunting them, like the rest of the besieged citizens who are burned by the fire of war.
Vitamins, iron, and nutritional supplements for pregnant women have been in short supply in pharmacies, even at health centers and hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health, after the occupation forces prevented their entry into the Gaza Strip nearly three months ago. This is part of a systematic starvation policy targeting our people by preventing basic commodities, including flour. The impact of this policy has become clear as the hurricane of famine has struck the stomachs of Gazans, exhausted by the ongoing Israeli aggression for nearly twenty months.
Pregnant woman Alaa Al-Hallaq says, “Famine has affected everyone in the Gaza Strip. As a pregnant woman, I haven’t eaten bread for more than two weeks, not to mention being deprived of any nutritious foods containing the iron and calcium necessary during pregnancy. I fear this will negatively affect my fetus.”
“I started feeling extremely tired and exhausted due to the lack of nutrients, and my joints started to hurt. I was no longer able to lead a normal life, especially since the fetus is nourished by what the mother eats, and I haven’t eaten anything nutritious in a long time. I feel like it’s feeding on my bones, which are now aching and disrupting my sleep, given our lack of rest due to the harsh conditions of war, the suffering, and our living in tents,” she continued.
Pregnant woman Samah Radwan says, “My greatest fear, given the famine and the lack of nutritional supplements available at pharmacies and health centers, is that I will miscarry, especially since I have already had two miscarriages, and one of my children died two months after birth due to mineral deficiencies and a lack of care.”
She adds, "Famine and a lack of supplements make pregnant women more vulnerable to weakness and fatigue, as they and their fetuses require food and nutritional support. Even if a pregnant woman is able to complete the nine months, she will suffer from anemia and severe weakness after giving birth. The newborn will also be weak and emaciated, which will be reflected in the mother's milk, which will be poor in nutrients, leading to health problems for the child."
Ms. Samia Ahmed says, "My situation is no better than that of other pregnant women. I haven't eaten any meat, poultry, eggs, milk, or fish for a long time, and famine has struck the Gaza Strip. We haven't even received bread for nearly a month, which is one of the most basic things that quells hunger and provides energy for daily life."
She added, "I hope the war ends and that all basic food and medical supplies, as well as medicines, supplements, vitamins, and minerals for pregnant women, are allowed to enter the country, so that we can regain our health and build our bodies and the bodies of our fetuses, so that they are not born with physical disabilities or brain deformities as a result of mothers being deprived of proper nutrition during pregnancy."
She continued, "I'm hopeful that I'll be able to have a natural birth and that my baby will see the light of day under better conditions than the ones we're living in, especially since I've been waiting for this moment for five years of marriage and have yet to have a child." She emphasized that "the famine is a raging hurricane that has battered the Gaza Strip, and there's no telling when it will end."
For his part, Dr. Adly Al-Hajj, an obstetrician and gynecologist, said: “Pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are being subjected to the most heinous starvation crime ever recorded anywhere in the world. Some of them, according to their testimonies, haven’t received a piece of bread for two or three weeks, amidst a shortage of all food supplies for more than two months due to the closure of the crossings and the occupation’s prevention of any import of goods into the Strip, amid shameful international silence.”
Al-Hajj emphasized that "pregnant women suffer from malnutrition, pregnancy pain, premature birth, miscarriages, anemia, and birth defects, all of which are caused by a shortage of nutritional supplements, vitamins, and minerals that the occupation prevents from reaching Gaza."
Al-Hajj broke down in tears as he spoke about the suffering of pregnant women, calling on the world to take urgent action to stop this crime against women and children in the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, Head of the Pediatrics Department at Nasser Medical Complex, said, “There is a severe shortage of nutrients that pregnant women need, such as folic acid, omega-3, and vitamin B12.”
He continued: "Folic acid tablets are no longer available due to the continued closure of the crossings, and their shortage leads to the birth of fetuses without anencephaly or with deformities in certain parts of the brain, leading to mental and motor delays in the child."
He added, "When a neural tube defect is detected in the fetus during the first 120 days of pregnancy (before the soul is breathed into the fetus), we obtain a religious fatwa to terminate the pregnancy. Hardly a week goes by without receiving one or two such cases."
A case of a baby born without an anencephaly was recorded in the northern Gaza Strip governorate. The child was born as a result of folic acid and other mineral deficiencies, in addition to the mother's malnutrition during the first famine that struck the northern Gaza Strip last year.
An international report on famine in Gaza indicated that the entire population of the Strip is facing severe food insecurity, with 47,000 people living in Phase 1.15 of a food catastrophe, 500,000 million in Phase XNUMX (emergency), and XNUMX in Phase XNUMX (crisis).
The report indicated that the number of people facing the risk of famine in Phase 2024 has doubled since October 244,000, rising from 470,000 to XNUMX.
A human rights center also noted that approximately 60 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are living in extremely harsh humanitarian conditions due to the blockade and the denial of aid and medical care since early March. The center emphasized that this policy constitutes one of the pillars of the crime of "forced contraception," which is classified as a crime of genocide under the 1948 Convention.
