We are in the final days of the holy season of Ramadan. But, in places like Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan, never-ending emergencies have put women and girls’ lives at risk and made it nearly impossible to celebrate Ramadan with their families.
Ahlam was in labor with her 9th child in Yemen, one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a mother, when she fainted from exhaustion, not having enough to eat throughout her pregnancy, and a life-threatening uterine rupture. Her husband shared his thoughts in that terrifying moment: “I felt the clock stop ticking when the clinic nurse told me they could not do anything to help my wife. It was horrifying to imagine my wife was going to die.”
Ahlam was rushed to a clinic, where UNFPA staff determined it was necessary to remove her uterus to save her life and the life of her child. After six hours of touch-and-go surgery, Ahlam’s doctor said, “The sound of the heartbeat monitor sounded like victory music.”
After recovering from surgery, Ahlam told us, “I felt like I died the moment I fainted. When I slowly opened my eyes, I thought I was opening them in my heaven, but I could hear the heartbeat monitor. Then I knew I had made it out alive.”
Every two hours, a woman in Yemen dies from pregnancy or childbirth complications, but – thanks to your support – Ahlam was not part of that dire statistic. Today, she is with her husband, their newborn, and their 8 children, celebrating Ramadan.
Your gift will deliver lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care to women and girls in more than 150 countries around the world. Thank you for being there for every woman and girl.
