Women in Gaza giving birth without enough painkillers, clean water or food

After eight years of trying to get pregnant, finally helped along by IVF, Alaa Jabr is preparing to give birth to her baby girl in some of the most difficult conditions imaginable.

The 30-year-old expectant mother from Jabalia, in northern Gaza, is eight months pregnant and living in an overcrowded displacement camp in the southernmost city of Rafah. 

"The doctor says I'm dehydrated, and I have to drink more water, but we don't have drinkable water," Jabr told Mohamed El Saife, a videographer working for CBC News, who interviewed her in the camp.   

Even when there is clean water to drink, she say, she avoids doing so because it means she would have to make more trips to the toilet.

"I have caught infections and bacteria from the state of the toilets," she said.

UN agencies say, on average, 340 people share a single toilet in camps throughout Gaza and the sanitary conditions are close to unbearable.

Having access to running water for bathing is also extremely rare. The same report said an average of 1,290 people in Gaza share a single shower.

But it is a lack of proper, nutritious food that may be the most lethal threat for mothers and infants.

"The doctor told me [the baby's] weight is low because there is no food," said Jabr.

"We get one meal a day — canned food, peas and humus. We don't get anything other than that."

Fresh fruit — which Jabr's doctor told her would help build up her strength — is rare, and even when it is available in local markets, it's priced beyond the means most people have to pay for it.

UNICEF estimates there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and every day about 180 women give birth in unimaginable conditions. 

In a recent report, the UN agency warned that the babies of 5,500 women due to be born in March will be at risk of dying, as their mothers do not have access to proper prenatal or postnatal care.  

The report also said anxiety caused by the war is causing many women to go into labour early, further reducing their newborns' chances of survival.