Sierra Leone: Helping pregnant women reach hospital in time

“When I went into labour, I started making my way to the nearest health centre, but then I felt one of my two babies coming, so I spread my cloth under a mango tree and gave birth on my own,” says Musa Yahyah. “A traditional birth attendant helped me deliver the second baby under the … Read more

MSF expands its maternal health activities in the South of Haiti

Nearly two years have passed since a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the Sud department of Haiti on August 14, 2021, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring 12,000. But many communities are still reeling from the destruction.  The earthquake destroyed tens of thousands of buildings and many healthcare facilities, including the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins … Read more

Yemen: Giving birth in the face of persistent obstacles in Taiz

Nogood Mohammad Ahmed Shamsan was lying under the covers of her bed, exhausted. She rested her left hand on her belly trying to provide comfort while she drew long, slow breaths. Next to Nogood was her mother sitting in a chair, making sure that her daughter was comfortable and that she tended to her needs. … Read more

Chad: A new path, Her path

What would maternal healthcare look like if it was designed by the women who use it? An MSF team in Chad is working to find out… Noor Cornelissen, MSF project coordinator in Chad, shares that in the new MSF pilot project in Sila, we are trying to walk a new path. We dare to admit … Read more

Afghanistan: MSF withdraws from Dasht-e-Barchi following attack on patients and staff

Kabul – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has announced today its decision to end activities and withdraw from Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul, following the brutal attack of 12 May in which 16 mothers were systematically shot dead. An MSF midwife working for the organisation, two children aged 7 and 8 and six other people present … Read more

Afghanistan: Fifteen mothers confirmed killed in Kabul maternity wing attack

In the three weeks since a vicious attack on the Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF)-run maternity wing at Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, assessments have revealed that 15 mothers were killed in the hospital. Five of these women were in labour and were minutes, or at most hours, from giving birth to their babies. An MSF midwife, Maryam Noorzad, … Read more

Afghanistan: “They came to kill the mothers” in Kabul maternity hospital attack

In the days following the attack on the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, it has become clear that what happened on 12 May was a deliberate assault on a maternity hospital with the purpose of killing mothers in cold blood. “I went back the day after the attack and what I saw in the … Read more

Afghanistan: Revolting attack on maternity ward kills pregnant women and babies

KABUL – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is devastated after yesterday’s sickening attack on pregnant women, mothers and their babies at our maternity ward in Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. While pregnant women and babies, in one of life’s most vulnerable states, were seeking healthcare, an unknown number of attackers stormed the maternity ward through … Read more