Pregnant Israeli Women at Greater Risk to Complications During Hamas War, Study Finds

The number of complications and premature childbirths for women in Israel since the outbreak of the war with Hamas terrorists has increased substantially compared to similar periods in the past, according to a new study.

The research from the Soroka Medical Center, located in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva, highlights various impacts on pregnancies — such as early breakage of water and low Apgar scores, a metric to determine the health of the fetus — amid the war in Gaza.

Soroka sees the second most childbirths in Israel. There are an estimated 180,000 pregnant women in Israel today.

The study appears to fit with the mass trauma facing the Israeli public since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7, when Hams-led terrorists invaded Israel, murdered over 1,200 people, and kidnapped more than 240 others as hostages.

In Israel, a small country roughly the size of the US state of New Jersey, almost everyone knew somebody who was killed — or had a friend or family member who knew someone who was killed — in Hamas’ brutal massacre. This reality, along with constant rockets coming from Gaza and graphic videos of Hamas atrocities circulating on social media, has led mental health professionals to declare that the whole population — the entire country — underwent trauma.

Medical professionals have linked mental health to successful pregnancies, although it’s unclear how precisely the war could be affecting the outcome of pregnancies.

The Soroka hospital conducted a similar study following the 2014 war against Hamas in Gaza and found that women who were pregnant during the fighting and subject to a large number of rocket sirens had a much higher rate of early childbirths and lower child weights.

According to Soroka, there have been a number of documented cases of women having premature births — something that can’t be causally linked to the war but nonetheless can put pregnant women and their children at risk for certain health issues such as stunted growth.

Medical experts in Israel have called for special care and attention to be placed on pregnant women, specifically those in the third trimester of their pregnancy, during the war.

Friday marked the start of a four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that involved the Palestinian terror group releasing dozens of the civilians it kidnapped. Both sides said the war would resume as soon as the truce was over, although Israel has said it would extent the truce if Hamas released more hostages.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this week that he expected “at least two months” of additional fighting.

According to Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority, nearly 18,000 babies have been born in Israel since Oct. 7, with many of them named after the towns and victims attacked by Hamas that day.

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