When foreign troops suddenly withdrew, the lives of millions of Afghans, especially women and girls, were thrown into chaos.
“If I had left, a mother or a baby could have died,” Ms Ahmadi said. “I was worried, but I couldn’t leave because people needed our services. I stayed because people, especially pregnant women, needed my support.”
Clinics closed
Healthcare workers were hit hard by the takeover, with hospitals and clinics forced to close or shut down and their staff unable to safely get to work.
Pregnant women were worried about where to give birth as health facilities closed, Ms Ahmadi said UN-FPAthe United Nations agency for sexual and reproductive health that supports efforts across Afghanistan.
“So I didn’t close the family health center,” she said.
Looking for expert health care
One of the women who sought help at the Ahangaran clinic was 29-year-old Sughra, who was nine months pregnant.
“A few days earlier, I had gone to the provincial hospital in Bamyan city, but the staff told me they were not sure if the hospital would remain open in the coming days,” Sughra said.
Unsure whether there would be skilled care available in the city and stressed by the increasing security situation, she decided to go to her father’s house, as she was experiencing early pre-labor contractions.
Humanists at work
Together with her husband and sister-in-law, Sughra undertook a three-hour journey in the back of a truck over bad roads to reach her father’s village.
“I was afraid I would give birth on the truck,” she recalls.
A few days later, Sughra started having contractions and asked to be taken to the family health centre, which is supported by UNFPA and is the only such facility in the region.
“We arrived very early in the morning, but the contractions lasted all day,” she said.
On August 19, 2021 at 2:00 PM, World Humanitarian Day, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy without complications.
“The delivery was horrible, but I was glad that we managed everything from the family health home,” Sughra recalls. “If the clinic hadn’t existed at that time, who knows what would have happened to me.”
© UNFPA Afghanistan
Mariza Ahmadi has been working as a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Ahangaran Health Centre in Bamyan Province for four years.
Dedication to her country
Behind a safe birth lies the courage of the midwife.
“It was a difficult situation, but this clinic was not closed for a single day during that time,” said Ms Ahmadi.
“I was scared too, but if I left, all our efforts to prevent maternal and newborn mortality would have been in vain.”
Contrary to expectations
Afghanistan has long had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Every hour, a woman dies from complications during pregnancy or childbirth. Deaths that could largely have been prevented with adequate, skilled obstetric care.
Now that de facto authorities have drastically restricted women’s ability to work and travel without a male guardian, the situation only looks more dangerous for the women and girls – and future generations – of Afghanistan.
Ms Ahmadi assisted in three more deliveries that week, helping women who had been displaced from other districts in Bamyan province.
“In the four years that I have been working here, there have been no maternal deaths in this clinic.”
Emergency care in obstetrics
Currently funded by the United States and previously by Italy, the Ahangaran Family Health House provides life-saving health care to people living in the surrounding isolated communities, despite its location in a remote area of Bamyan Province.
Midwives can meet approximately 90 percent of essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health needs. Yet, there is a shortage of approximately 900,000 trained midwives worldwide.
Afghanistan urgently needs an additional 18,000 workers to meet the demand for skilled midwives. A shortage of midwives otherwise endangers lives and undermines the bodily autonomy of women and girls on a large scale.
© UNFPA Afghanistan
Sughra undertook a three-hour journey in the back of a truck over bad roads to reach the village health centre and deliver her baby.
Health homes help, one baby at a time
In 2021, UNFPA supported just over 70 family health centres in Afghanistan, a number that – despite extremely challenging operational conditions – has increased more than six-fold to 477 today.
Since 2021, these clinics have provided more than five million Afghans with access to essential health care, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
At home, Sughra’s son Farhad just celebrated his third birthday.
“When he grows up,” Sughra said, “I hope he can study so he can build a good future for himself and the people around him.”
