Taiz: Over 13,000 Pregnant Women Face Grave Health Risks as Hospital Services Crumble

Yemen Monitor / Newsroom: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned of escalating health and humanitarian risks facing women and girls in and around the city of Taiz amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions, revealing that more than 13,000 pregnant women are currently deprived of essential healthcare services, alongside rising rates of miscarriages and unsafe deliveries. Speaking during a press briefing in Geneva via video link from Aden on Tuesday, UNFPA Representative in Yemen, Francesco Galtieri, stated that the sharp escalation in military operations and mass displacement have stripped women in Taiz of critical health and safety services. He warned that continued restrictions on movement and supply deliveries put the lives of thousands of mothers and newborns at grave risk. Galtieri highlighted that fighting in Yemen has reached levels of intensity not seen since 2020, noting that the number of displaced individuals in the West Coast and Taiz has surged threefold to approximately 300,000 people, nearly half of whom are women and children. He added that 6.2 million women and girls lacked basic protection services prior to the latest wave of escalation, with displacement conditions significantly increasing their vulnerability to gender-based violence, including sexual assault, harassment, exploitation, forced child marriage, and other harmful practices. Child Marriage Under the Strain of War The UN official underscored the social and psychological toll of the conflict through the case of 14-year-old Safaa, who lost her mother earlier this year before her father arranged her marriage to an elderly man weeks ago, fearing he might be killed in the fighting and leave his daughter unprotected. Galtieri emphasized that Safaa’s situation illustrates how the conflict forces families into desperate measures amid displacement, loss of primary breadwinners, and fear for the future. He warned that young girls bear a disproportionate burden of these hardships, particularly given the rising incidence of early and forced marriages. Hospitals on the Verge of Shutdown Addressing the healthcare crisis, UNFPA revealed that only five out of 27 facilities dedicated to emergency maternal and newborn health services in Taiz remain operational, and only at partial capacity—severely limiting access to critical care. UNFPA estimates that over 13,000 pregnant women are currently cut off from basic healthcare, including approximately 1,500 women expected to deliver within the next two weeks, precisely as medical facilities face a collapsing capacity to manage emergencies. Galtieri pointed out that the Swedish Hospital for Maternity and Childhood—the primary maternal care facility in Taiz supported by UNFPA—is facing a severe disruption in services. Average daily deliveries have dropped from ten to five, while the number of operational infant incubators has been reduced from 40 to just ten due to acute fuel shortages. He added that deteriorating security conditions have led to a near-total cessation of admissions during nighttime hours. Meanwhile, healthcare personnel face immense strain, with many unable to safely reach the hospital, warning that continued access restrictions over the coming days could force the facility to shut down entirely. Malnutrition and Miscarriages Compound Suffering The UN representative noted that UNFPA-supported midwives in Taiz have reported numerous cases of pregnant women suffering from severe acute malnutrition, often relying on only one or two basic meals per day consisting solely of tea and bread or unsupplemented rice. He highlighted a concerning increase in miscarriages and unsafe home births stemming from declining medical services and supply shortages, warning that prolonged conditions pose severe risks to the lives of mothers and infants alike. “Women should not face the threat of death simply for giving birth in conflict zones,” Galtieri stated, calling for immediate healthcare access and protection. Humanitarian Response and Urgent Access Demands Regarding field response efforts, UNFPA reported that the UN Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), led by UNFPA, has reached more than 182,000 individuals and deployed five new mobile emergency teams to provide reproductive health and gender-based violence response services. Additionally, UNFPA dispatched 55 metric tons of essential medicines and maternal health supplies—a quantity sufficient to support approximately 120,000 pregnant women in conflict-affected zones for four to six months. However, Galtieri warned that the absence of guaranteed safe humanitarian corridors prevents addressing critical shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel, emphasizing that relying on private-sector partnerships to secure supply lines is not a sustainable long-term solution. The UNFPA representative renewed UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s call for immediate de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the provision of safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access. Concluding his remarks, Galtieri stressed that the needs of women and girls must not be sidelined amid focus on military developments, stating that praising women’s resilience is insufficient without concrete actions to ensure their safety and meet their basic needs, warning that their suffering must not be lost behind war statistics. The post Taiz: Over 13,000 Pregnant Women Face Grave Health Risks as Hospital Services Crumble appeared first on Yemen Monitor.