In Gaza, there are no more ‘normal-sized babies’, UN official says
- Doctors are seeing small and sickly newborns, stillbirths and mums having c-sections without enough anaesthesia, the UNFPA representative for Palestine says
- Israeli authorities had refused to allow in some of the agency’s supply shipments, he adds, such as kits for midwives
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a “nightmare” for mothers and babies, with doctors reporting small and sickly newborns, stillbirths and women forced to undergo c-sections without adequate anaesthesia, a UN official said Friday.
“I’m personally leaving Gaza this week terrified for the 1 million women and girls of Gaza … and most especially for the 180 women who are giving birth every single day,” Dominic Allen, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) representative for the state of Palestine, said in a video news conference from Jerusalem.
“Doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies,” Allen said after visiting hospitals still providing maternity services in the north of Gaza, where need is especially great.
“What they do see though, tragically, is more stillborn births … and more neonatal deaths, caused in part by malnutrition, dehydration and complications.”
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Doctors in Gaza neonatal intensive care unit warn of ‘huge catastrophe’
The numbers of complicated deliveries are roughly twice what they were before the war with Israel began – with mothers stressed, fearful, underfed and exhausted – and carers often lacking necessary supplies.
“We have had reports of insufficient anaesthetic being available” for caesarean sections, “which again is unthinkable”.