Mandy Blackman, a British nurse working for the charity UK-Med in Gaza, said 70% of mothers attending their maternal health, ante-natal and post-natal clinics had clinical malnutrition.
“Babies are delivered smaller and more vulnerable as a result,” she said.
More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition”, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Another woman, Aseel, who lives in Gaza City, said: “Five months ago, I weighed 56kg (123lbs). Today, I weigh only 46kg (101lbs).”
She said she hadn’t eaten a single piece of fruit or meat in months and had spent nearly her entire savings on basic ingredients to survive.
Aseel’s sister-in-law – who she lives with – has a one-month-old baby.
“She’s been desperately searching for baby formula at a reasonable price,” Aseel said.
She said that when they can find it, it costs as much as 180 shekels (£39) per can.
“I have no food stockpile, not even enough to last a week or two,” she added.
“Like thousands of people, we live day by day.”
Additional reporting by Freya Scott-Turner