5,500 Women in Gaza Set to Give Birth 'In Race Against Death'

Source: United Nations November 12, 2023

Some 5,500 women are due to give birth in Gaza over the next two weeks as doctors in overstretched hospitals are delivering babies with little or no anaesthesia - sometimes by the light of mobile phones. As the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants enters a second month, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and sister agencies continue to appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire and an increase in convoys bringing food, fuel, water and other desperately needed aid into the enclave. Laila Baker, Regional Director for the Arab States at the sexual and reproductive health agency, said she fears for the fate of 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza.