‘I gave birth in the street“: Conflict makes childbirth risky in parts of Africa

A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)2026-06-02T05:03:10Z BIRAO, Central African Republic (AP) — 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 doctor, no midwife, and no one holding my hand.”___This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s fastest-growing population and the majority of mothers dying from pregnancy-related causes: 70%, or around 182,000 deaths every year.___Nearly two-thirds of maternal deaths worldwide occur in countries affected by conflict or “fragility,” the World Health Organization said this year. For women like Fadala, fleeing Sudan’s war to countries like Central African Republic, the danger doesn’t stop at the border. A woman holds her baby outside the registration center for new refugees on the outskirts of the Korsi Refugee Camp in Birao, Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A woman holds her baby outside the registration center for new refugees on the outskirts of the Korsi Refugee Camp in Birao, Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) –> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. –> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Displacement can mean missed prenatal appointments, dangerous journeys and weakened health systems, often in remote settings.Women in Central African Republic are 40 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in the United States, the United Nations has said. For every 100,000 births in the country, one of the world’s poorest, 829 women die. ‘Risk of maternal death is going to increase’Years of internal conflict have made Central African Republic and its health system fragile. Despite its vast reserves of gold, health services are scarce outside major cities. One in three people live on less than $2 a day.The government, aware of its maternal mortality problem, announced a plan in 2024 to increase spending for resources such as skilled birth attendants. Officials did not respond to questions about how it’s working. A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) –> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. –> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A woman has her first pre-natal consultation with nurse Delphine Zanabe at the Birao District Hospital in Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) A woman has her first pre-natal consultation with nurse Delphine Zanabe at the Birao District Hospital in Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) –> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. –> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Now, sweeping cuts in humanitarian aid funding by top donor the United States and other countries have made it even harder for women to find care. Read More In the remote town of Birao near the Sudan border, where Fadala shelters, four local midwives who had been supported by the U.N. Population Fund lost their jobs last year as the Trump administration cut every U.S. funding agreement with the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency. Opposite Fadala’s tent is a former UNFPA-funded “safe space” providing transport for pregnant women to the district hospital. It was one of four such spaces in Birao serving nearly 50,000 women. Those have closed without U.S. funding, along with two U.S.-backed health facilities.Now, “some women run the risk of dying in pregnancy situations that are not medically managed,” said UNFPA program officer Marie Justine Mamba Ibingui. UNFPA’s budget in Central African Republic has been halved in the past two years to $6.5 million, country directo

A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)2026-06-02T05:03:10Z BIRAO, Central African Republic (AP) — The agony began for Maude Ahmad Fadala shortly after sunset.Her baby was coming. She was…

A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)2026-06-02T05:03:10Z BIRAO, Central African Republic (AP) — 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…