UN: 55,000 PREGNANT WOMEN IN GAZA, 11,000 AT RISK OF STARVATION

Wed 23 July 2025:

A new report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has revealed that around 55,000 women in Gaza are currently pregnant, amid worsening humanitarian and health conditions caused by the ongoing war and the stifling blockade.

The report noted that thousands of these women are expected to give birth next month, while hospitals are severely lacking basic supplies and equipment. Maternity wards are under extreme pressure and facing a severe shortage of medical staff.

According to the report, at least 11,000 pregnant women are at risk of famine and acute malnutrition, which threatens their lives and those of their unborn children. This also increases the chances of serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

The organisation stressed that the continued blockade and restrictions on food and medical aid are worsening Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. It called for urgent international action to meet the needs of pregnant women and to provide them and their babies with minimum levels of health care and nutrition.

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How is malnutrition affecting Gaza’s children?

At least 80 children have died from malnutrition since Israel’s war began, and with conditions worsening, that number is set to rise in the coming weeks. Yesterday alone, four children died from malnutrition.

The effect of malnutrition on children varies, but the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which includes the pregnancy and up to two years, are critical for healthy development.

Malnutrition leads to an out-of-proportion height-to-weight ratio, stunted growth and eventually, death. Unborn babies will be affected if their mothers are malnourished during pregnancy. After birth, if a mother is malnourished, she may also not be able to breastfeed.

On Monday, the Reuters news agency spoke to the uncle of an infant who died from malnutrition, who said the mother had not been able to breastfeed because she was not eating, and the family could not find baby formula to feed him.

Khalil al-Daqran, the spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera that at least 60,000 pregnant women in the enclave are suffering from malnutrition.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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