An estimated 19,000 pregnant women are part of the 1.1 million residents forced to flee from northern Gaza due to Israel’s evacuation order on 13 October, with no safe place to give birth. Women are miscarrying pregnancies due to stress and shock, and the availability of medical facilities to birth safely in Gaza’s already overwhelmed healthcare system is rapidly dwindling.
Wafa Abu Hasheish, a healthcare provider with the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), an IPPF Member Association, has been providing medical aid to residents of her neighbourhood in northern Gaza where she has been sheltering since 10 October, three days after Israel declared war on the Gaza Strip.
She said: “I have dealt with two suspected cases of miscarriages already, where there was no movement for the foetus and the mother had hypotension, bleeding and back pain. There has been one case where a woman was referred to where I am staying, since they knew I was a health service provider in the neighborhood. The woman was 8 months pregnant and was suffering from severe labor pain and was having a premature birth. We were very fortunate that when she reached me that we were able to refer her to a health center in time to be able to give birth safely."
Even if the delivery of limited amounts of aid is allowed into southern Gaza, as was reported on 16 October, it remains unclear exactly how this aid will reach the more than 9,600 injured and the nearly 600,000 internally displaced people in central and southern Gaza[1] who are living in increasingly dire conditions. It has also been reported that the aid will not be distributed into northern Gaza, where 1.1 million residents have been ordered to evacuate ahead of a likely Israeli ground invasion.
Ammal Awadallah, Executive Director of PFPPA, said:
when
country
Palestine
Subject
Humanitarian
Related Member Association
Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA)
“Now, from what we see in the news it seems as if Gaza is being divided between north and south. The situation is devastating and horrific.”
On 8 October, PFPPA’s only center in Gaza was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike to an adjacent building, completely cutting off their ability to offer services to women who have already been systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights by the illegal Israeli occupation.
Health authorities and medical organisations in the Gaza Strip, including the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, have reported that Israel is deliberately bombing ambulances and health facilities in the besieged enclave, which would constitute a war crime and a grave breach of international humanitarian law. Doctors Without Borders has also reported damage to its hospitals as a result of airstrikes. The forced evacuation of northern Gaza - including hospitals and medical facilities - has been strongly condemned by the WHO, which says that the forced evacuation of patients and health workers will worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.
The lives of tens of thousands of pregnant women and newborn babies now hang in the balance: they are at serious risk of life-threatening complications or even death if they are forced to move and are cut off from life-saving medical care while being evacuated.
-ENDS-
For media enquiries, or to speak to Ammal Awadallah, Executive Director of PFPPA currently in Palestine, please contact [email protected]
About the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA)
Established in Jerusalem in 1964, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA) is locally registered as an independent, non-profit and non-governmental association with headquarters in Jerusalem. PFPPA has service delivery points located in the West Bank Areas of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Halhoul, in addition to one in the Gaza Strip, which has yet to be relocated after it was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike on 8 October. Furthermore, and in cooperation with local partners, PFPPA is also responsible for 3 safe spaces to provide Gender Based Violence (GBV) related services in the Jerusalem area.
About the International Planned Parenthood Federation
IPPF, through its 149 Member Associations and collaborative partners, delivers high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and helps advance sexual and reproductive rights, especially for marginalized people with diverse needs that are currently unmet. IPPF's Member Associations and partners are locally owned, independent organisations, which means the support and care they provide are informed by local expertise and context.
IPPF advocates for a world where people have the information they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and their bodies. We stand up and fight for sexual and reproductive rights and against those who seek to deny people their human right to bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive freedom. We deliver care rooted in rights, respect, and dignity for all - no matter what.
[1] Source: OCHA Flash update #9
Banner image MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images
