‘We have a shower for pain relief’: can Haiti’s young midwives save a new generation?

The Guardian Haiti HNN Team

Sylvie Delice was born on a hot, slow March afternoon in a clinic in Marigot, a coastal town in south Haiti. The labour was seven hours; her mother, Natalie, 24, a seamstress, was stoic throughout, helped by two midwives in pale pink scrubs. Sylvie arrived strong and healthy, and was named after her mother’s cousin. … Continued

Guinea: 500 newborns die every week – Official

Journal du Cameroun Guinea HNN Team

Five hundred newborns die every week in Guinea, mainly because of the lack of qualified midwives in the country’s maternity hospitals, Ben Youssouf Keita, president of the National Assembly’s Health and Sport Commission said on Monday in Conakry.”In the context of neonatology, official statistics have shown that 500 babies die every week in Guinea. That’s … Continued

Looming famine threatens the lives of 2 million pregnant women and new mothers in Yemen

UNFPA Yemen HNN Team

SANA’A, Yemen – Four years into conflict, Yemen has become home to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Over 22 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Two thirds of the population do not know when their next meal will come. “Some days I cannot provide food [for my children],” said 28-year-old … Continued

A Day in the Life of a Community Health Worker

USAID Afghanistan Afghanistan HNN Team

SACRIFICING TO MEET NEEDS Shakila is a volunteer Community Health Worker at a health post in Enjil District, Herat Province. Every day, prior to working a typical 24 hour shift at the health post, she leaves her two-year old son, Mohammad Moshfe, with her mother-in-law. “Everyone is welcome here. Enjil is a poor district. It … Continued

These Women Are Saving Lives, One Pregnancy at a Time

New York Times Sierra Leone, Uganda HNN Team

Regions of sub-Saharan Africa have some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Geographical obstacles, scarce financial resources and the terrors of political insurrection can transform what should be one of the happiest times of a woman’s life into a race for survival. While this issue has been covered extensively from a geopolitical … Continued

Trained midwives provide healthcare to Rohingya women

Dhaka Tribune Bangladesh HNN Team

BRAC University is providing a three-year course to train midwives to improve maternal and neonatal health services in Bangladesh Scores of midwives are working in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar to ensure health security, deliver babies and help young mothers. About 148 midwives, who completed a diploma course under the Developing Midwives Project from … Continued

Dying babies and no doctors: A look inside a Yemeni hospital

Yemen HNN Team

When Kenan was born four months premature, there were no doctors at al-Sadaqa Hospital to care for him. So his grandmothers tried to save him. They placed the infant in an incubator, but it was broken. They tried a second one. It wouldn’t heat up. It had been 24 hours since a doctor had last … Continued

Amid grinding conflict, Yemen’s midwives go to heroic lengths to save lives

United Nations Population Fund Yemen HNN Team

Hajjah, Yemen – “When the war broke out, I left my job in the city and came to Aslam,” Rawthah Ahmed, a midwife with 25 years of experience, told UNFPA. Her services are desperately needed in Aslam, a remote village in Hajjah Governorate. “There are no health facilities or basic services. People are very poor; … Continued

How Natural Birth Became Inaccessible to the Poor

Sapiens Mexico HNN Team

Pilar* gave birth in a private, “humanized” hospital in Mexico City that takes a holistic approach to health and combines world-class medicine with the comforts of a five-star hotel. The exterior walls of the hospital are covered with ivy, the floors are marble, and soothing tunes from a piano often echo in the multilevel foyer. … Continued