Mothers' Touch Helps Premature Newborns in Gaza Grow Stronger

A trial kangaroo mother care program at Nasser Hospital is helping vulnerable newborns.

Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip - Rania Fadel was unable to hold her newborn son for 11 days after giving birth last month.

This 24-year-old girl had two sons named Elias and Yahya on September 25.

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End of List While Yahya Salem was born, Elias was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, where he stayed for nearly two weeks.

Born prematurely, Ilya weighed just 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) at birth, according to his mother. He said he had medical problems affecting his blood and lungs and needed specialized care in an incubator.

Rania herself was recovering from a caesarean section when her son was transferred to intensive care. He could not hold her for days.

"When they called me to hug him, I rushed over," he recalls. "I was in a rush to get to him. That's what it felt like."

As Ilya's condition improved and he was transferred from intensive care to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, Rania was able to hold him on her bare chest and introduce him to a type of care for low-birth-weight babies called Kangaroo Mother Care, part of a newly launched program at the hospital.

It involves long-term skin-to-skin contact between a caregiver - ideally the mother - and baby, with exclusive breast milk feeding, and has been shown to have important health benefits for premature and low-birthweight babies.

"I was so happy. It was such a beautiful feeling," Rania said.

During the session, a nurse helped Rania place Elias on her chest, skin-to-skin. Rania said she stayed there for about 90 minutes.

"He started nursing me and stayed a little longer," she said. "I felt he was improving."

For Rania, the call also brought a sense of intimacy after days of separation.

"The child feels that the mother is there," he said. "He feels safe. It makes me very happy, to be honest."

Kangaroo mother care involves placing the infant against the parent's bare chest for skin-to-skin contact, along with breastfeeding and appropriate medical care.

For premature and low-birth-weight infants, it can help regulate body temperature, support breastfeeding, and improve health outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines say that kangaroo mother care has been shown to reduce infant mortality by 32 percent and mortality up to six months by 25 percent compared to conventional care.

At Nasser Medical Complex, Khola Al Madhoun, director of nursing at the hospital's maternity and neonatal unit, described it as an integrated approach to newborn care that supports growth and strengthens the bond between mother and baby.

When we put the baby on the mother's chest, it helps the child grow," she said.

We have seen babies who were unwell or underweight grow faster with kangaroo care. This can help them leave the hospital sooner."

The hospital has started kangaroo care through a pilot program supported by WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The agencies announced the initiative in September at Nasser Hospital, but the method is being gradually introduced in the neonatal intensive care unit, where babies stay with their mothers, and in maternity wards after delivery.

Al-Madhoun said the team is also preparing a dedicated room and looking for equipment to make the meetings more comfortable.

The team is aiming for longer periods of skin-to-skin contact — the WHO recommends at least eight hours a day — although the immediate goal is at least two hours, depending on each family's circumstances.

At Nasser, the team now prioritizes babies who are medically stable and do not need oxygen support. Nurses monitor their vital signs and evaluate them during the process.

Al-Madhoun emphasized that this method cannot replace the incubator or other treatments when the baby needs special care.

"It can help babies grow, gain weight and leave the hospital earlier, but some babies need other interventions, such as respiratory support," she said. "Those babies still need the incubator and the care it provides."

The need for specialized neonatal care is raised as Gaza's health system also struggles with damaged facilities, lack of equipment and overcrowded neonatal units.

According to UNICEF, before Israel's genocidal war against Gaza began in October 2023, Gaza had eight neonatal intensive care units with a total of 178 incubators.

By November 2024, three of these units had been destroyed by Israel, reducing the number of existing incubators to about 54, a 70 percent reduction. The lack of equipment, along with the limited supply of fuel and electricity as a result of Israeli restrictions, put premature babies at serious risk.

Israeli attacks have continued since the "ceasefire" of October 2025. Despite this supposed ceasefire and despite the delivery of some new equipment, the lack of incubators and other equipment continues.

In May, UNICEF announced that it and its partners had provided incubators and ventilators to hospitals in Gaza, while warning that neonatal units were still managing large numbers of fragile babies with limited equipment, space and manpower.

The war in Gaza has worsened the living conditions of pregnant women with economic hardship, food shortages, poor nutrition and the harsh realities of displacement, including cooking over open fires and carrying water.

"These conditions have contributed to the increase in premature births and low-birth-weight babies who require special neonatal care," Al-Madhoun said.

Meanwhile, frequent transfers and overcrowding have put more pressure on hospitals, including Nasser Medical Complex, which is currently struggling with limited space and lack of incubators and other necessary equipment for babies.

The baby girl of Linda Abu Nasira is only three days old.

According to 23-year-old Linda, the baby first developed a fever, which has since subsided.

While her daughter was being treated and nursed, Linda was learning how to hold her on her chest under the guidance of the medical team.

The sessions were short. Linda said she held her daughter on her chest for about 30 minutes at a time, repeating the process roughly every two hours, according to the instructions she received.