Help Pregnant Moms Give Birth Safely in Disasters

GAZA STRIP, Palestine – “My pregnancy during the war was very difficult,” Nadia told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “I was really afraid for the baby.”

Originally from northern Gaza, Nadia currently lives in Khan Younis in the south, and has been displaced multiple times. Just as the conflict intensified in January 2024, she found out she was pregnant. 

“I was scared that something would happen to him from all the stress, and because we had to keep moving from place to place.”

A contribution of $400 equips a midwife and maternity ward to help 50 expecting mothers like Nadia safely deliver their babies in humanitarian emergencies. 

Her husband Rami is also from Gaza, and had been working as a laborer in Israel before the war. In November 2023, Israeli forces detained him in jail for 18 days, along with many other workers from Gaza. Nadia’s world was shaken.

The constant displacement made it difficult for her to receive the healthcare she needed. Although she tried to make it to checkups at clinics, the journey was often too dangerous. With prices for everything rocketing across Gaza, she also couldn’t afford the transportation costs, which have risen tenfold since the start of the war. 

The upheaval took its toll on Nadia, and she went into labour a month early.

“I think it was because of how scared I was, and that I was so tired all the time from walking and moving, trying to find a safe place,” she said. “It took me about an hour and a half to walk from my tent to the hospital, while having contractions. I couldn't take a taxi because I didn't have the money.” 

She gave birth at a UNFPA hospital in Khan Younis in August, but her newborn soon developed breathing problems and was placed in an incubator. Electricity shortages and power blackouts made the situation all the more precarious – and is a stark reminder of the conditions Palestinians in Gaza are facing.

With the support of UNFPA's cash assistance program, mothers like Nadia are able to buy essential items from market stalls to meet their family's basic needs. © UNFPA/Media Clinic

Nadia’s story highlights the hardships mothers and pregnant women in Gaza grapple with, as healthcare services are overwhelmed and under-resourced. Early deliveries and miscarriages have reportedly surged due to the combined stresses of war, displacement, hunger, and a lack of access to care. 

If you donate $150, you will help provide supplies, medications, and equipment to a health clinic to help safely manage obstetric emergencies such as Nadia's.

UNFPA has been providing critical support, including cash assistance, to vulnerable women in Gaza and the West Bank to help them cover their basic needs and access essential services, especially healthcare. This is particularly crucial for more than 4,000 pregnant women who will give birth each month, as well as for survivors of gender-based violence with few, if any, other places to turn. 

Before receiving the cash voucher, Nadia would walk an hour and a half to visit her son in the hospital. When she managed to save enough money, she would take a taxi or donkey-drawn cart, which currently costs almost $10; before the war, the same trip would have cost the equivalent of one dollar. Sleeping at the hospital was mostly impossible, as it was overcrowded with patients and people seeking safety. 

“With the UNFPA voucher, now I can pay for the taxi, buy diapers, and cover other essential needs,” she explained; the voucher is worth around $280 and enabled her to visit her baby more often.

More than half of all hospitals in Gaza are not functioning. Whenever access and resources allow, UNFPA provides medical supplies, dignity and hygiene kits, medicine and equipment to 12 hospitals now overwhelmed with spill-over patients. Health workers are also receiving capacity building in sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence protection.

A contribution of $50 provides 10 emergency birth kits, which will help women safely deliver babies even when they cannot access a hospital. Each kit contains a bar of soap, a clear plastic sheet, an umbilical cord tie, and latex gloves.

Since January 2024, UNFPA’s cash assistance program has reached over 12,000 women across Palestine, prioritizing those most at risk, such as survivors of gender-based violence and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Through a partnership with the World Food Program, the funds are distributed via both traditional and mobile payment methods, ensuring aid can be secured even amid severe impediments and cash shortages.

“I was desperate, and it was a lifesaver for me,” said Nadia. “Now I can see my son, hold him, and be there for him. I hope I can leave Gaza when this is all over and get my son the healthcare he needs.”

HADRAMOUT, Yemen – When Mona began working as a midwife in her local health center 30 years ago, she was the first in Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate.

“Back then, our area was a world away from health care,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Now head of the midwifery department at the Shahir Health Center in Hadramout, she explained hers was an impoverished community that lacked schools, medical facilities and health workers.

“Women faced pregnancy without proper care or follow-up. The traditional midwife, with all her goodwill, was limited in resources,” added Mona. “Many births ended in complications, sometimes tragically. The city hospital was out of reach due to cost, transportation and sheer lack of awareness.”

For $400, you can help equip a midwife and maternity ward to help 50 women safely deliver healthy babies.

Fatima, a patient at Mona’s health center, confirmed this description of the past: “Survival hinged on pure luck, for both mother and child.”

Yemen has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, and only one out of five functioning facilities currently offers maternal and newborn health services. Some 17.8 million people need healthcare assistance in 2024, among whom an estimated 5.5 million women need reproductive health services.

Mona was inspired to change the situation and enrolled in a midwifery training program in  the nearby city of Mukalla after finishing school. When the Shahir health center opened in her village, she was quick to apply. “Despite limited funding and barely enough staff, we fought tirelessly for the well-being of our women.”

Your gift of $25 could provide 5 women with UNFPA Emergency Birth Kits and give them the items they need to prevent infection during childbirth.

As the backbone of community-based sexual and reproductive health services, midwives are a main gateway to health services in crisis settings, especially for the most marginalized.

The inequality of climate change

Mona recalled a harrowing day in 2015, when Cyclone Chapala hit Yemen just as war was erupting. Together with a team from her health center, she said, “we travelled treacherous terrain on foot to reach people in desperation.”

Despite howling winds and with barely any lights, “the thought of three lives hanging in the balance – a woman in labor with twins – fuelled our resolve and we reached them in time.”

When climate catastrophes strike or conflict breaks out, midwives are most often the first responders, representing the single-most effective way to avoid preventable maternal deaths. Research shows the climate crisis carries specific threats for women and girls, as disasters can lead to pregnancy complications and increase risks such as premature births and miscarriages.

UNFPA refurbished the Shahir health center in 2021 with medicine and supplies, and supported training sessions for health workers. Maternal mortality rates in the area have since dropped, as dozens of trained midwives now offer a comprehensive range of services – from maternal health to obstetric care, assisted by an ambulance, fully equipped operating room and medicine provided free of charge.

For $90, you could give two women everything they need to care for themselves and their babies after birth.

“After the devastation of conflict and climate disasters, it felt like a dream,” said Mona. “Families in the region, displaced people fleeing war and floods, were able to find solace here.”

Your Impact

Since the start of 2024, UNFPA has reached over 350,000 people in Yemen with lifesaving reproductive health care, protection and information, including support for over 100 health facilities.

Midwives are a critical part of this response, as providers of culturally sensitive care, as community leaders and as emergency responders. But the world is short of nearly one million midwives.

Like Mona, many midwives are forced to confront challenging work environments, low pay and a lack of career development – all factors driving the global shortage. Yet UNFPA research shows that increasing the coverage of midwives by 25 percent could save over 2 million lives annually by 2035.

Today, Mona is close to retiring, but she says she is relieved to be handing over the reins at her health center. “They are a team of highly trained, professional midwives, equipped to navigate the future of maternal health care.”