'I Gave Birth in the Street': Conflict Makes Childbirth Risky in Parts of Africa
- Maude Ahmad Fadala, a refugee in the Central African Republic, gave birth in the street after being unable to reach the Birao District Hospital. "I gave birth in the street," she said.
- Funding cuts from the Trump administration last year forced four local midwives in Birao to lose their jobs, shuttering U.N. Population Fund-backed health facilities and leaving pregnant women without essential medical support.
- Women in the Central African Republic are 40 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in the United States, according to the United Nations; sub-Saharan Africa records around 182,000 maternal deaths annually.
- Midwife Clara Abessend expressed profound guilt after losing her job, stating, "The children born in my hands &I abandoned them like that," as medical supplies continue to dwindle in Birao.
- Conflict-Affected settings like Birao account for six in 10 maternal deaths globally, the World Health Organization reported this year, as years of internal conflict leave the Central African Republic's health system fragile.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Africa is the deadliest place to have a baby, while its population booms
Women are 40 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth in Central African Republic than in the United States, according to the United Nations. The Associated Press visited a rural community where refugees fleeing the war in nearby…
San Mateo Daily Journal
Africa is the deadliest place in the world to have a baby, while its population booms
Women are 40 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth in Central African Republic than in the United States, according to the United Nations. The Associated Press visited a rural community where refugees fleeing the war in nearby…
'I gave birth in the street' Conflict makes childbirth risky in parts of Africa
BIRAO, Central African Republic — The agony began for Maude Ahmad Fadala shortly after sunset.Her baby was coming. She was in a refugee camp, weakened by typhoid. There were no camp facilities for what was about to happen, and she had no money to travel. She struggled to her feet and started walking.She stopped every few minutes, gripped by pain from contractions, then could go no farther.“I gave birth in the street," she said. "There was no doc…
Born on the road: Aid cuts leave refugee mothers with nowhere to turn
When labour pains struck Sudanese refugee Maude Ahmad Fadala, there was no clinic nearby, no transport and no money to reach a hospital. Hours later, weakened by illness and stranded on a dirt road in northern Central African Republic, she gave birth with only her sister by her side.
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