Gaza: Displaced, pregnant, and living in a tent

• As a result of over 3 months of war on Gaza, the health system has collapsed leaving no space for pregnant women to receive care, and deliver in a safe environment, this is increasing the risks of complications in pregnancy, delivery and after delivery.

• In addition to the exhaustion of pregnancy and childbirth, pregnant women and mothers are displaced, living in deplorable conditions. Many are delivering in tents, and others are discharged directly after delivery.

• Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is supporting the Emirati hospital in the southern Gaza, Rafah area, the main remaining facility providing maternal health, with the provision provide maternal care to women, to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality among mothers and newborns.

“The situation in Rafah is terrifying, places are overcrowded, with people living in tents, schools, and hospitals. The Emirati hospital is now dealing with three times the number of deliveries it handled before the war,” said Doctors Without Borders emergency coordinator in Gaza, Pascale Coissard.

In the south of Gaza, the Emirati hospital is the main hospital covering the maternal health needs of a population of 1.5 million displaced people.

Pregnant women are giving birth in plastic tents, going often months without a medical check-up, and those able to give birth in the hospital are discharged only hours after delivery, having to return with their newborns to unsanitary and inadequate tents.

PLEASE HELP:

• The Emirati hospital continues to face a critical shortage of medical supplies. The hospital is covering three times the number of deliveries compared to pre-war times.

• MSF supports the hospital with donations of medical supplies and reinforcement of staff, including gynaecologists, nurses and hygienists working in round-the-clock shifts.

• The teams have also provided support with the clean-up of the maternity ward, and postpartum care, and built an extension to the maternity ward, increasing the capacity to 20 beds.

Please consider making a donation today. Your gift enables us to provide essential medical supplies, reinforce staff, and expand maternity ward facilities to cope with the overwhelming demand for care in Gaza and other projects where it's needed most.

(Your donation today will be unrestricted, allowing Doctors Without Borders to respond to emergencies at a moment’s notice. Tax-exemption receipts will be issued for HK residents only.)