The sudden withdrawal of foreign troops has thrown the lives of millions of Afghans, especially women and girls, into turmoil.
“If I had left, the mother or the baby might have died,” said Ms. Amadi. “I was worried, but I couldn’t leave because people needed our services. I stayed because people, especially pregnant women, needed my support.”
The hospital is closed
Public health workers have been hit hard by the takeover, as hospitals and clinics have closed or lost their functionality and staff can no longer safely travel to work.
Ms Ahmadi told UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency that supports operations across Afghanistan, that pregnant women were worried about where they would give birth as health facilities closed.
“That’s why I didn’t close my family health clinic,” she said.
Looking for a skilled medical professional
One of the women who sought help at the Ahangaran clinic was 29-year-old Sugra, who was nine months pregnant.
“A few days ago, I went to the district hospital in Bamyan city, where the staff told me they were not sure whether the hospital would open for the next few days,” Sugra said.
Uncertain about whether she would be able to get skilled treatment in the city and stressed by the worsening security situation, she decided to go to her father’s house as soon as she felt the first contractions before labor.
Working Humanitarians
Sugra, her husband and sister-in-law rode in the back of a truck for three hours on a rough road to reach the village where her father lived.
“I was scared I was going to give birth in a truck,” she recalled.
A few days later, Sugra began to experience labor pains and asked to be taken to the UNFPA-supported Family Health Hospital, the only facility available in the area.
“We arrived early in the morning, but the contractions lasted all day,” she said.
She gave birth to a healthy baby boy without any complications on August 19, 2021, World Humanitarian Day, at 2pm.
“The labor was painful, but I was glad that I had everything managed through Family Health Hospital,” Sugra recalled. “If the hospital hadn’t been there at the time, who knows what would have happened to me.”
© UNFPA Afghanistan
Marija Amadi has been working as a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Ahangaran Family Health Facility in Bamyan Province for four years.
her devotion to her country
Behind a safe birth is the courage of the midwife.
“It was a difficult time, but the hospital never closed for a single day during that period,” said Mr. Amadi.
“I was scared, but if I had left, all our efforts to prevent maternal and newborn deaths would have been in vain.”
Against adversity
Afghanistan has long had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with one woman dying every hour from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Most of these deaths could have been prevented if there had been adequate midwifery care.
Now, with the de facto authorities severely restricting women’s ability to work and travel without a male guardian, the situation for Afghanistan’s women and girls, and future generations, only looks more precarious.
Mrs. Ahmadi assisted in three other deliveries that week and provided assistance to displaced women in other parts of Bamyan province.
“In the four years I’ve been working here, there hasn’t been a single maternal death at this hospital.”
Midwife emergency
Currently funded by the United States and previously funded by Italy, the Ahangaran Family Health Hospital, despite its remote location in Bamyan Province, provides life-saving health services to people living in isolated areas around the area.
Midwives can meet approximately 90% of the needs for essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health care, but there is a shortage of approximately 900,000 trained midwives worldwide.
In Afghanistan, an additional 18,000 skilled birth attendants are urgently needed to meet the demand, a shortage that puts lives at risk and undermines the bodily autonomy of women and girls on a massive scale.
© UNFPA Afghanistan
Sugra endured three hours of rough road travel in the back of a truck to reach the village health center, where she gave birth to her son.
Health Home helps one baby at a time.
In 2021, UNFPA supported just over 70 family health facilities in Afghanistan, a figure that has now more than six-fold increased to 477, despite a very challenging operating environment.
Since 2021, these hospitals have helped more than 5 million Afghans access essential health services, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
At home, Sughra’s son Farhad celebrated his third birthday.
“When he grows up,” said Sugra, “I hope he will study and create a good future for himself and those around him.”
