Newborn saved from dead mother’s womb in Gaza

Doctors in Gaza performed a remarkable delivery, pulling a newborn baby from his mother’s womb moments after she succumbed to injuries from an Israeli air strike.

Nine months pregnant, Ola Adnan Harb al-Kurd managed to survive just long enough to reach Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza after an overnight strike hit her home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to medics.

When the heavily pregnant woman arrived in critical condition, emergency department doctors immediately sprang into action, recounted Raed al-Saudi, head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department.

Despite their efforts, the mother, in her 20s, was “almost dead” upon arrival in the operating room, surgeon Akram Hussein told media.

Unable to save the mother, doctors detected a fetal heartbeat and quickly assembled a team of obstetricians and surgeons.

“An emergency caesarean section was performed, and the fetus was extracted,” Saudi reported.

Kurd was among at least 30 people killed in a devastating 24-hour period of Israeli bombardment that also claimed six members of one family in a neighborhood north of Gaza City, according to rescuers and medics in Hamas-run Gaza.

A civil defense spokesperson reported that at least seven people were killed in overnight strikes on the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Medical sources at Al-Awda Hospital revealed that four children from Nuseirat were injured while playing on a roof, with one child needing an amputation.

Kurd’s husband was also injured in the missile attack on their home, surgeon Hussein added.

Following the C-section, baby Malek Yassin faced further medical challenges. Born in critical condition, he was stabilized with oxygen and medical care, Saudi said.

The war in Gaza has severely impacted childbirth, with pregnant women facing frequent strikes that impede access to health facilities. Even if they reach a hospital, they often find that these facilities are stretched to their limits, as humanitarian groups have noted.