'Unbearable to watch': 100 celebrity mothers urge UK to act on Gaza maternity crisis

Jenin Mahmoud spent her first pregnancy in Gaza displaced and fearful, as Israel's war pushed thousands of mothers and newborns into life-threatening conditions.

"This was my first pregnancy, and instead of joy, it was filled with fear," Jenin Mahmoud, 28, tells The New Arab. "I spent most of it displaced, moving from place to place. I worried constantly about miscarrying or not reaching a hospital in time. I felt alone and unprepared."

The mother-of-one gave birth in "overwhelming" conditions in the hospital, suffering heavy bleeding after giving birth without enough pain relief or comfort due to shortages of basic medical supplies.

"I cry often and feel anxious all the time," Mahmoud says. "There is no sense of stability or security."

Her experience reflects the reality faced by many mothers in Gaza, where the war has triggered a deepening maternity crisis. Only a handful of hospitals are still able to offer maternity care after Israel’s bombardment devastated the health system.

Hundreds of women give birth every day in the enclave, without access to the right health workers, functioning facilities, or basic supplies like anaesthesia, oxytocin, and antibiotics, according to the UNFPA.

At the same time, newborns are arriving with serious complications, including preterm births, low birth weight, and rising neonatal deaths.

In response, more than 100 prominent British and Irish mothers last week called on the UK's largest parenting platform and its chief executive to use their influence to push the British government to act on Gaza’s maternity crisis. The signatories include figures such as Dame Judi Dench, Paloma Faith, and Aisling Bea.

The appeal followed Israel's decision to ban 37 international aid organisations, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), from operating in Gaza. The campaign urges Mumsnet and its CEO, Justine Roberts, to use their platform to apply pressure on the UK government.

"As a mother myself, it's unbearable to watch what the mothers of Gaza are going through," actor Juliet Stevenson CBE and co-organiser of the campaign, tells The New Arab. "It's just awful to see those mothers trying to cope with those conditions."

"Any mother in the world wants for their child, for them to be safe from harm, fed, clothed, kept warm in winter, washed, be able to go to school, to play, to enjoy a normal childhood, and there's no child in Gaza who's having that experience."

Heba Ahmed from Gaza City was pregnant with her third child while caring for her other children during the war.

"Every day felt like survival rather than pregnancy," Ahmed tells The New Arab. "I often skipped meals so my children could eat."

She described giving birth as "harsh", with minimal medical support, poor sanitation, and complications related to high blood pressure, followed by little or no monitoring.

"There is no time to heal when you are displaced and responsible for children. Post-partum care is almost non-existent," Ahmed explains. "I am constantly tired and emotionally numb."

"The world needs to understand that every birth here happens under fear, loss, and unimaginable hardship."

The open letter was issued in coordination with grassroots campaigns led by British mothers, including All Our Relations, co founded by comedian Jen Brister and Georgia Takacs, which provides aid to families in Gaza.

"These children have been robbed of their childhood, and these mothers have been robbed of their chance to enjoy being a mother," Jen Brister tells The New Arab.

"That's why this letter is important, and that's why it's important to see all of these names on that letter who are standing by the side of Palestinian mums and their children and asking others to do the same, and whilst also asking a government to grow a spinal cord and call this out."

"We're high-profile women, who are mothers, who want to use our platform to represent other mothers around the world, not just in this country, but around the world, who are appalled by everything that is happening in Gaza and has been happening since October 7."

Areej Emad developed complications after giving birth, including exhaustion and anaemia, with little follow-up care.

"Giving birth was terrifying," the mother-of-four tells The New Arab. "I delivered amid noise, chaos, and fear of airstrikes."

Emad says she was in constant fear while pregnant, feeling no sense of safety, panicking at every loud sound as Israel's bombardment was non-stop.

"I was in fear for myself, fear for the baby inside me, and fear for my other children," Emad recalls. "I couldn't rest, couldn't eat properly, and I was always anxious that stress and hunger would harm my unborn child."

In response to the crisis, the campaign organisers are calling on the UK's largest parenting platform to be the driving force in taking their concerns seriously, noting that its CEO, Justine Roberts CBE, has been named one of the UK's most powerful women.

"[Mumsnet] is the UK's largest community of engaged mothers, parents and carers, and this is an issue directly affecting mothers and babies in Gaza," Stevenson says.

"What we want to say to Mumset is that you are a platform, you have advocated for mothers and babies for over a decade, you have done incredible work in your advocacy, and we would love you to do that for mothers and babies in Gaza," Brister tells The New Arab.

"It's not just that we're protecting mothers and babies in this country, but we see the importance of doing it for mothers and babies around the world, and if they can't advocate for themselves, and they don't have a platform, and they are not given a voice, that we will be their voice on their behalf."

While campaign organisers and Mumsnet's leadership have been in contact ahead of the letter's publication, Israel's relentless onslaught on Gaza continues. Nearly 72,000 Palestinians have been killed over more than two years.

Women and children make up the majority of the death toll, with newborns being born into a warzone with no end in sight as Israel continues to breach the ceasefire through daily attacks, besieging the enclave and limiting the entry of aid.

"I became a mother during war, not by choice, but by fate," Mahmoud says. "I worry constantly about how I will protect my baby in a war zone."

"My greatest fear is that my child will only know fear, displacement, and hunger instead of safety."