Over 13,000 pregnant women lack healthcare in Yemen's Taiz amid fighting, UN warns

Fighting and Houthi access blockades around Taiz, Yemen have left over 13,000 pregnant women without healthcare and deprived 147,000 women and girls of childbearing age of essential services. Fuel shortages have forced 22 of 27 maternal health facilities to stop operating and pushed the Yemeni-Swedish Motherhood and Childhood Hospital to near closure. With over 300,000 people displaced since August 2026, UN agencies are initiating a 90-day plan to address mounting health emergencies.

Impact of conflict on pregnant women in Taiz

• ▪United Nations Population Fund representative Francesco Galtieri stated that pregnant women in Taiz, Yemen are surviving on little more than tea, bread, or rice amid food shortages.
• ▪Midwives supported by the United Nations Population Fund reported a rise in miscarriages and unsafe deliveries in and around Taiz city, Yemen.
• ▪Essential healthcare services in and around Taiz, Yemen have been cut off for approximately 147,000 women and girls of childbearing age, according to United Nations Population Fund representative Francesco Galtieri.
• ▪Fighting and access restrictions in and around Taiz, Yemen left more than 13,000 pregnant women without essential healthcare and led to increased miscarriages as of November 3, 2026, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Shortages and facility closures at Taiz hospitals

• ▪Daily baby deliveries at the Yemeni-Swedish Motherhood and Childhood Hospital in Taiz fell from 10 to 5, while operational incubators dropped from 40 to 10 due to fuel shortages.
• ▪United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reported that Twelve hospitals in Taiz, Yemen had cut services or risked closure due to shortages of fuel and critical supplies as of November 2, 2026.
• ▪United Nations Population Fund representative Francesco Galtieri warned on November 3, 2026, that the Yemeni-Swedish Motherhood and Childhood Hospital in Taiz risks closing unless access restrictions are lifted within days.
• ▪Fuel shortages and access restrictions in Taiz, Yemen left only 5 of 27 designated emergency maternal and neonatal health facilities partially functioning as of November 3, 2026.

Blockade and road closures isolating Taiz

• ▪United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated on November 2, 2026, that all roads into Taiz, Yemen were closed due to fighting, preventing commercial supplies from entering.
• ▪More than 800,000 people in Taiz, Yemen and surrounding areas have been cut off from food assistance since early October 2026, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
• ▪Escalating clashes between Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement left Taiz, Yemen largely isolated for a month as of November 3, 2026.
• ▪Iran-aligned Houthi forces blocked key supply routes into Taiz, Yemen, including the Taiz-Aden corridor, exacerbating shortages of water, food, and fuel.

Displacement driven by renewed fighting

• ▪Intensifying fighting between Houthi forces and Saudi-backed government forces displaced more than 300,000 people across western Yemen between August 2026 and November 2026.
• ▪The latest displacements in Yemen add to 5.2 million Yemenis already uprooted prior to the August 2026 escalation in conflict, according to OCHA.
• ▪United Nations Population Fund representative Francesco Galtieri stated that women head 33 percent of displaced families in Yemen, with women and children comprising more than half of those displaced.

United Nations emergency response in Yemen

• ▪United Nations agencies and health partners are coordinating a 90-day emergency plan to restore disrupted healthcare, maintain life-saving services, and strengthen disease surveillance in Yemen.
• ▪The United Nations Population Fund has reached more than 182,000 people with emergency assistance in Yemen, though 75 percent of protection services remain suspended due to funding and access constraints.