At least 15 women each week in Gaza are giving birth outside any health facility, often without trained midwives, pain relief, or basic medical supplies. Some deliver alone, others rely on neighbors with no medical training. For many, childbirth has become a matter of survival in a territory where hospitals lie in ruins and supplies are scarce.

Before the fragile ceasefire in October, UNFPA estimated that 55,000 pregnant women were caught in “a spiral of displacement, bombardment and acute hunger” with no reliable access to care. Around 130 babies are born daily across Gaza, with more than a quarter delivered by caesarean section. One in five infants is born too early or underweight, often requiring specialized care that is no longer available.

Despite the devastation, UNFPA supports 22 health facilities, including five hospitals, and has deployed 175 midwives across the Strip.

Some procedures made are horrifying. Midwives say they cut umbilical cords with kitchen knives, shouting instructions from a distance under drone fire, and watching mothers die from hemorrhage due to lack of blood or doctors. UNFPA continues to provide cash assistance, hygiene items, and a helpline for women and young people, but warns that 18 births a day still occur outside hospital gates, often with tragic consequences.