GAZA, (PIC)
Newly delivered women in the Gaza Strip suffer from the inability to breastfeed their babies naturally due to malnutrition resulting from war and blockade. As a result, they resort to compensating with artificial infant formula.
This comes amidst most hospitals in the Gaza Strip being out of service due to the devastating Israeli aggression on beleaguered enclave. Some hospitals, however, continue to provide healthcare services under extremely difficult and complex conditions.
One such hospital is Al-Helu International Hospital in northern Gaza, which still operates despite Israeli restrictions and the tightened blockade.
Inside the hospital corridors, Palestinian mother Nahil Abu Samaan tries to soothe her hungry infant with small doses of milk, amidst severe shortages of infant formula. Nahil suffers from malnutrition due to the Israeli prevention of food and medicine.
She says, “I gave birth to my child in Al-Helu International Hospital under very difficult conditions. I have no clothes for the baby, no milk, no food, and no drinks.”
Nahil appeals to the world to stop the genocidal war on Gaza, provide relief to the residents, and offer medical and humanitarian support to hospitals operating in the sector so they can provide proper healthcare to patients and the injured.
Doctor Raja Jihad describes the situation of women in the hospital, saying, “Pregnant women come suffering from malnutrition, without any preparations for childbirth or baby needs. They don’t even have any post-natal meals.”
She adds, “Some pregnant women lack the necessary nutrients and water. We try our best to provide them and protect the pregnant woman from any danger to her life and her baby’s life.” She emphasizes that the shortage of nutrients negatively affects the health of breastfeeding mothers, who need proper and adequate nutrition to support breastfeeding.
She points out the challenges faced by hospital staff, including power outages, working in darkness, shortage of sterilization materials, medicines, medical supplies, and the fuel needed to operate backup generators.
Tharwat Al-Helu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Helu International Hospital, confirms that the healthcare system in Gaza and the north has completely collapsed. He explains that the hospital has received many cases since the beginning of the war, including natural and cesarean births, postnatal surgeries, severe infections, and malnutrition.
He adds that the medical teams in the hospital conduct medical tests and examinations for about 70 cases daily, revealing that all mothers suffer from severe anemia and unprecedented severe infections.
He points out the difficulties and challenges facing their work, including the shortage of fuel, medical supplies, relief aid, the famine experienced by Gaza, and the water crisis. He stresses the importance of providing food for mothers, children, and medical staff.
Al-Helu notes that no aid has reached the hospital since the beginning of the ground invasion in Gaza at the end of last October, confirming that they are living in a real famine. This has led to the inability of women to breastfeed their children due to malnutrition, in the absence of sufficient quantities of infant formula.
Global health organizations warn of the effects of the policy of starvation and blockade, calling for aid, assistance, and relief for the children of Gaza and their mothers vis-à-vis the health disaster caused by the brutal Israeli war on Gaza Strip.
