Jerusalem, 9 July 2024: Nine months on since the start of the Israeli aggression in Gaza, maternal healthcare is almost decimated. Pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women in Gaza are facing serious health consequences. Miscarriages have risen at least 300% since October last year. One of our own health workers from the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA) recently lost her pregnancy due to the stress of the attacks.  

“I am a healthcare worker with PFPPA, and I have been forced to flee not once, not twice, but six times since the start of the violence, with my husband and three small children. Our home was destroyed by bombing. Whilst I was fleeing from one location to another, I started to unexpectedly bleed. I was able to find a doctor only after reaching Rafah, who confirmed I was miscarrying. I didn’t even realise I was pregnant,” Wafa, our healthcare worker in Gaza, told us.  

With the starvation being faced by the people in Gaza in addition to the lack of drinking water, our service providers are reporting on daily basis of pregnant women suffering from anaemia, malnutrition and in desperate need of prenatal vitamins and supplements.  

Our service providers in Gaza are also witnessing many women who are either having premature deliveries or miscarriages. Women of newborns are unable to breastfeed their babies due their own malnutrition and anxiety, while at the same time most families cannot afford milk formula as prices are becoming extremely high - and that is if they can find it in the market. When medical facilities are available, many women are unwilling to leave their shelters to obtain pre- and post-natal care, as they worry if they are separated from their families there will be military attacks and bombings and fear for their and their loved one's fate if they do so.  

Ammal Awadallah, Executive Director of PFPPA, said: 

“Nine months on, and a woman who conceived at the start of these hostilities will now be giving birth. But where, how, and what life is that baby entering? This will be a lost generation in Gaza, a generation born into genocide. We’re doing the best we can to offer support to women in Gaza, but the conditions to get aid into Gaza, let alone warehouse supplies, make our jobs extremely difficult. PFPPA has always been committed to women’s health and that doesn’t stop, now or ever.”  

Over 37,900 people have now lost their lives in Gaza. Women and girls that survive are facing a myriad of challenges; deprived of sexual and reproductive health services, sanitary and hygiene products. We believe every single person and organisation needs to mobilise to end this, by calling on their governments to demand unhindered humanitarian aid access, to demand a permanent ceasefire, and divest from any organisations aiding and abetting Israel’s military campaign against Palestine.  

We are working in close collaboration with colleagues in Palestine on how best to serve those caught up in the violence, to ensure health workers are safe and able to provide sexual and reproductive health care without threat to life.  

For more information and to speak to our Executive Director in Palestine, please email [email protected]   

 About the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association 

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 three safe spaces to provide Gender Based Violence (GBV) related services in the Jerusalem area. 

About the International Planned Parenthood Federation 

IPPF is a global healthcare provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for all. Led by a courageous and determined group of women, IPPF was founded in 1952 at the Third International Planned Parenthood Conference. Today, we are a movement of 150 Member Associations and Collaborative Partners with a presence in over 146 countries. 

Our work is wide-ranging, including comprehensive sex education, provision of contraceptive, safe abortion, and maternal care and responding to humanitarian crises. We pride ourselves on being local through our members and global through our network. At the heart of our mission is the provision of – and advocacy in support of – integrated healthcare to anyone who needs it regardless of race, gender, sex, income, and crucially no matter how remote.