GAZA CITY (IPS) — The Israeli siege of Gaza that has restricted access to food, water and medicine is now beginning to hit unborn children and newborn babies.

“Many babies are born suffering from anemia that they have inherited from their mothers,” Dr. Salah Al-Rantisi, head of the women’s health department at the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza told IPS.

The mothers become anemic because they do not get enough nutrition during pregnancy.

Al-Rantisi also heads the women’s health unit at Nasser hospital, where about 30 to 40 children are born every day, he said.

Anwaar Abu Daqqa, 30, has lost three babies prematurely. The fetuses were malformed as a result of lack of nutrition and medicine for the mother, Al-Rantisi said. In the last case she reached the hospital late because she could not find transport.

“Premature babies born dangerously underweight is a daily and increasing phenomenon in Gaza’s hospitals,” he said.

According to the ministry of health 9,000 to 10,000 babies are born in the Gaza Strip every month. Of every 1,000 born, 28 die from malnutrition, anemia and other poverty-related causes. The ministry has no figures for surviving babies suffering from malnutrition.

“There are many cases of pregnant women who need medicines that are not available in Gaza,” Al-Rantisi said.

When they are available, he said, most families can not afford them.

The World Bank said last month that the poverty rate in Gaza is now close to 67 percent and that economic growth last year was zero.

One consequence of poverty is anemia. The condition, a direct consequence of poor nutrition, is not new to Gaza.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported in 2002 that 19 percent of Gazans suffer from anemia. That figure is estimated by UNRWA now to be 77.5 percent. Children receive on average only 61 percent of their daily need of calories from U.N. supplies.

Many of the newborns have been hit by the political situation before they opened their eyes to the world.

Fear of bombings has become secondary among the concerns of Gazans. First come the dangers  of lack of food, water and medicine.

Tahani Safi, 29, lies worrying about the cesarean section scheduled for the next day. She suffers from malnutrition, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a shortage of protective fluid around the child in the womb.

Such cases can be found at any hospital, but doctors said the number of cases as a result of poor food and medical care in Gaza is rising. Health authorities have warned that the life and health of countless unborn babies is in serious danger all across Gaza.

The U.S. celebrated Mothers Day on May 11.

No one in Gaza did.