A Gazan Mother’s Harrowing Journey to Give Birth

The latest episode of Reveal follows one woman’s search for a safe place to deliver her baby.

Palestinians inspect the damage at Al-Shifa Hospital complex, following a two-week military operation by the Israeli army in Gaza City.Omar Ishaq/Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP Images

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

In Gaza, the health care system has collapsed, but nearly 200 women each day still need to find a safe place to give birth. In this week’s episode of Reveal, reporters Gabrielle Berbey and Salman Ahad Khan tell the story of one woman, 42-year-old Lubna Al Rayyes, as she deals with a complicated pregnancy in the midst of the war. After fleeing her home in Gaza City, Al Rayyes tries to find refuge in Khan Younis—only to be forced to evacuate again when that city comes under attack too. 

Also in this episode, reporters speak with Dutch researcher Dr. Tessa Roseboom, who has been studying how famine affects the development of babies in the womb, and Dr. Ghassan Jawad, an OB-GYN who had worked at Al-Shifa hospital before it was left in ruins by an Israeli military attack. 

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate