HEALTH CARE FOR MOMS AND BABIES IN GAZA

HELP MOTHERS AND BABIES IN CRISIS
Every child has the right to survive and be protected from harm. But what if your baby’s first breath is threatened?

Tima*, 26, was four months pregnant when the war began. For months she and her family moved from place to place in search of safety. She worried about her pregnancy, where she would give birth, and how she would keep her baby safe.

“It was tough being pregnant during the war,” she recalls. “With the first baby, I took vitamins and ate healthy food. [This time] I’d just get settled in one place and then I’d have to move again.”

In April 2024, Save the Children opened a new maternity unit not far from where Tima and her family were sheltering. Immediately she went for her first prenatal check-up, and just a few weeks later she became the first mother to give birth at the centre.

Tima was able to give birth in a safe, clean place with the help of a midwife and an obstetrician/ gynecologist. But for most mothers in Gaza, this is the not the case.

That’s why we’re launching a campaign to raise $500,000 to help 28,000 more children and families in Gaza access vital maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition care.

Save the Children is working in Gaza to provide urgently needed maternal, newborn, and child health care, primary care, and nutrition care services. The first maternity unit opened in April 2024 and since then, we’ve been able to help 14,042 people access health services. But there are many more children and families who need access to this care.

By September 2024 we will have opened two new primary health centres (PHC). With your support, these centres will provide:

Prenatal, postnatal, and family planning care.
Malnutrition screening and treatment for children under five and pregnant and lactating women.
Child health services including management of acute childhood illnesses.
Primary health care consultations including trauma care services, injury management, and treatment for common illnesses.

At these PHC’s, patients will also have access to comprehensive medical care integrated with supports for patients experiencing gender-based violence, protection for children experiencing abuse or exploitation, and help for patients experiencing mental health distress. In addition, health care staff will participate in focused, on-the-job training in prenatal care, how to spot danger signs in pregnancy, essential newborn care, family planning, and planning for mass casualty contexts.

THE IMPACT
Palestinian mothers and children are facing extreme hardships. Since October 2023, 1.9 million people have been displaced, many forced to flee multiple times. The approximately 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza have little-to-no access to pre- and postnatal health services. The greatest risks to children in Gaza are malnutrition, dehydration, and communicable diseases like diarrhoea—things that are entirely preventable and treatable.

Help us scale up our health care response in Gaza

At Save the Children, we believe every child has the right to survive and be protected from harm. We know you do too. We need partners like you—people who are passionate about helping children in crisis—to join us.

Together, we can ensure thousands more mothers and babies like Tima and Lana can have access to safe, effective, dignified, and compassionate health and nutrition care.