Midwives saving lives
In Bangladesh, pregnant midwife Khadija* urgently needed help. Heavy flooding in the world's largest refugee camp meant that a trained birth attendant couldn't reach her, and the nearest health centres had been forced shut. Pregnancy and childbirth can too often prove fatal in crisis settings, as access to health care, shelter, food and water is severely constrained.
An ambulance was eventually secured to take Khadija to a HA-supported field hospital – where she also works – and staff found her blood pressure had escalated dangerously. Shortly after delivering a healthy baby boy, Khadija began bleeding profusely; without the intervention of her fellow midwives, the situation could have ended in severe illness or death. “Khadija held my hand and thanked me with a full heart,” said midwife Nasrin Khatun. “This is the kind of moment that inspires me more about my profession.”
For Hanifa in Afghanistan, it was in the chaotic aftermath of an earthquake that her contractions began. Her home reduced to rubble, freezing and sheltering in a tent, Hanifa asked, “How can a mother bring a child into this chaos?” Childbirth during displacement can be dangerous – and even more so in the depths of a natural disaster, as pregnant women are forced from their homes, vulnerable to violence, malnutrition and disease and often must give birth without any health-care support. “But then Rahna, the midwife, arrived like an angel,” Hanifa told HA. Rahna guided her through labour and helped deliver her baby safely. “Her words were like a soothing balm for my fears,” Hanifa said. “I went from panic to comfort in moments.”
Hers would be a familiar experience for Maria, a midwife in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Maria was working her shift in a maternity health centre when a powerful earthquake struck in early September. “Trapped under the debris, I thought I was going to die,” she told HA. “That night was difficult, but as soon as my colleagues helped me out of the rubble, we all managed to help and save lives.” As she coordinated helicopter evacuations for almost all the pregnant women in the affected area, Maria made sure they received the urgent care they needed. At several points, Maria held multiple lives in her hands: Two women had gone into labour amid the crisis, spurring Maria to gather medicine salvaged from the wreck of the health centre and assist them in safely delivering their babies – one to healthy twins.
