From the hospital to a tent in hours — what it's like giving birth in Gaza now

Delivered into hell.

That is how Tess Ingram of the U.N. Children's Fund — or UNICEF — describes the world that newborn babies are meeting in Gaza. Ingram recently spent a week observing the conditions at two hospitals there.

UNICEF estimates that about 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza since Israel began its offensive there in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Only about a third of the territory's hospitals are still partially functioning, and Ingram says pregnant women have trouble accessing even the most basic of medical services.

She spoke to NPR's Sarah McCammon about what she saw while on the ground.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Tess Ingram: The care that people are able to receive is incredibly limited. The hospitals are so very crowded because there's just so many people in need, both from injuries from the war but also from preexisting conditions [for which they] need to continue to receive treatment, and then, of course, women giving birth and the care that their newborn babies need.

I spoke to one woman who was living in the middle area of Gaza. And when her house was hit, her husband was buried under the rubble for several days, and her baby stopped moving inside of her. And she said that she wasn't able to get a scan or any sort of assessment of the baby's condition.

When I met her, it had been a month after that terrible incident. And she confirmed her husband was fortunately rescued and he was OK, but she was sure that their baby was dead, and she was waiting for medical care. So these are the sorts of things that women are experiencing even before they get to a hospital. And then once they're there, for example, anesthetic is not something that's easily available, let alone other more usual medications that women might receive.

Sarah McCammon: And I'm sorry. The woman you just described — you said her husband was ultimately rescued, but what about the baby?

Ingram: So she was waiting when I met her at the Emirati hospital to see a doctor. But baby hadn't moved in about a month. And she said that she was sure that the baby was dead. And we spoke for a long time, and she was obviously distraught by the whole situation. It was her second pregnancy. But she said to me, you know, "I think it's best that a baby isn't born into this nightmare — it was probably meant to be." Which was just heartbreaking.

McCammon: For those who are able to make it to a hospital and give birth there in Gaza, what happens afterward? I mean, how long, for example, are they able to stay in the hospital after the birth?

Ingram: Not long at all. So at the moment, because of the sheer lack of staff compared to the enormous needs, women are having caesareans and then getting a short amount of time, maybe an hour or two, in a bed before being put in a chair because they need that bed for somebody else, and then being discharged within about three hours unless there is some kind of urgent need for them to stay in the hospital.

So mothers are leaving hours after having a serious caesarean operation, with a newborn baby, back to the streets in many cases. We're talking about displaced women returning to makeshift shelters of tarpaulins and blankets on the streets of Gaza, where they're not only at threat because of the bombardments, but they also don't have basic things like clean water or food or even clothes for the baby. I met one mother who was taking her newborn baby back to their tent, and the baby didn't have any clothes.

McCammon: We've learned in recent days that several nations, including the United States, have suspended funding to one of the key United Nations agencies involved in providing aid to people in Gaza. That's the agency known as UNRWA. And that decision came after Israel presented evidence alleging that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks. How much is that development harming efforts to help infants and new mothers in Gaza?

Ingram: The situation was already at a breaking point. When I was in Gaza, I could just see just how exhausted people are by more than 100 days of war. And nothing justifies the horrific events on the 7th of October, and these are extremely serious allegations which are being investigated, but ultimately I think what we need to keep in front of mind is what happens to the children of Gaza when they're already at this breaking point when the major U.N. agency in Gaza is not able to fully function?

So I think that's the thing that we at UNICEF are thinking about at the moment and making sure that the needs of the children in Gaza can continue to be met. [Copyright 2024 NPR]