At first glance, the small bodies inside the morgue at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis may appear to belong to children killed during nearly three years of war. Among them, however, are 18 babies who never had the chance to enter the world, alongside newborns who died shortly after birth.

The scene reflects a broader maternal and neonatal health crisis unfolding across the Gaza Strip, where recent months have seen a sharp increase in miscarriages, congenital abnormalities and deaths among premature babies.

Years of hunger, malnutrition, disease and inadequate medical care have severely weakened women’s health. For pregnant women in particular, displacement, psychological distress and the absence of nutritious food have made carrying a pregnancy increasingly dangerous.

Pregnancy Under Extreme Conditions

Maha Al-Astal, 31, from Khan Younis, recently visited Nasser Medical Complex for a routine examination. Doctors told her that her pregnancy needed to be terminated because her health and that of her two-month-old fetus were at risk. The fetus had a dangerously low heartbeat.

Doctors linked the condition primarily to the lack of rest and nutritious food needed to support a healthy pregnancy.

Al-Astal said three years without adequate food, clean water, medication or medical care had taken a severe toll on her body. Although the recent reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing allowed some essential supplies to enter Gaza, she said the quantities remained insufficient to compensate for what residents had endured.

“There are no treatments, no healthcare and no vitamins to make up for the deficiencies,” she said.

Reaching the only available maternity clinic serving Khan Younis also required travelling long distances through unsafe conditions, using several forms of transportation and waiting for hours.

Her husband, Ahmed Al-Akhras, 36, said the couple had tried to remain strong after losing the pregnancy, but the reality was far more painful.

“We had dreams and were thinking about what name to choose,” he said. “Like any father, I was thinking about how to build a future for our child. Then, in one moment, I lost the baby and everything disappeared.”

Dreams That Could Not Be Completed

An’am Abu Fseifes, 43, experienced a similar loss. She is currently living in a classroom inside a school that has been converted into a displacement shelter.

She lost her pregnancy in its sixth month after suffering repeated health complications. Medication needed to stabilise the pregnancy was either unavailable or too expensive for her family.

Her daily routine included standing in long queues for drinking water, carrying heavy containers back to the shelter and cooking over firewood in exhausting conditions.

Abu Fseifes had hoped the baby would be a girl and a sister for her only daughter, who is 13. That hope ended with the miscarriage, which she described as another part of the continuous loss and pain experienced by Gaza’s population.

Thousands of Miscarriages

Bassem Zaqout, director of medical relief in Gaza, said 3,958 miscarriages were recorded during the first half of 2026 alone.

He attributed the unprecedented increase to the conditions facing pregnant women, including travelling over damaged roads in unsafe vehicles, constant fear caused by bombardment, sleeping on the ground and the lack of clean water, hot water and hygiene products.

Doctors also cited the spread of health hazards throughout displacement camps.

Dr. Assad Al-Nawajha, a paediatric and neonatal specialist at Nasser Medical Complex, said living in tents, malnutrition and Gaza’s wider humanitarian conditions had caused a significant increase in miscarriages and premature births.

Premature babies often require ventilators and intensive care, but such services are severely limited. As a result, many die in incubators within days or weeks of birth, while only a small number survive for several months.

“A fetus needs nine complete months to be born in good health, but many births in Gaza now happen prematurely, making survival extremely difficult,” Al-Nawajha said.

Some doctors have also raised the possibility that exposure to toxic gases from unconventional weapons allegedly used during the war could be contributing to congenital abnormalities, miscarriages and premature births. Health officials said further research and medical testing would be required before reaching any conclusion.

Births Fall by 67 Percent

Gaza recorded a sharp and unprecedented decline in births, from 6,076 in November 2025 to 2,004 in April 2026—a fall of 67 percent within several months.

Health data also showed 921 miscarriages during a single month. The miscarriage rate rose to 460 cases for every 1,000 live births, compared with 140 before the war, while 385 congenital abnormalities were documented.

Officials attributed the figures to the effects of war, malnutrition, widespread anaemia among pregnant women, displacement and contaminated water.

Two reports prepared by Physicians for Human Rights and a human-rights unit at the University of Chicago described the situation as a form of “reproductive violence.”

Based on testimonies from women, health data and field reports, the studies documented approximately 2,600 miscarriages, 220 pregnancy-related deaths, 1,460 premature births and more than 1,700 underweight newborns between January and June 2025.

During the same period, around 2,500 babies needed intensive care in incubators that were no longer able to operate at full capacity.

Women Delaying Pregnancy

The crisis has also discouraged some women from becoming pregnant.

Riham Yassin, 29, gave birth to her only child near the beginning of the war. She later considered having another baby but changed her mind after discussing the risks with her husband.

Reports of miscarriages, congenital abnormalities, premature births and newborn deaths left her unwilling to take the risk.

“Life in Gaza is difficult,” she said. “I never imagined that I would consider giving birth again under conditions that could threaten my child’s life or cause the baby to be born with serious health problems.”