The Take: What it means to give birth in Gaza

The story of one pregnant mother in Gaza navigating a warzone.

A woman holds a baby, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 6, 2024
Displaced Palestinians, including infants, take shelter in a tent camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during the war between Israel and Hamas [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

Lubna Al Rayyes dreamed about having a child. When she found out that meant having a Caesarean section in Gaza, her dream became a nightmare. Israel’s war on Gaza has shut down maternity wards. She had two choices: deliver on her own or find a way out.

In this episode: 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sonia Bhagat and Chloe K Li with host Natasha Del Toro, in for Malika Bilal. Zaina Badr, Catherine Nouhan and Manahil Naveed fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik, and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera