Early morning on October 15th, Hanifa felt the contractions that signaled her baby was on its way.

But the timing was less than ideal. One week prior, a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the Herat Province in Afghanistan. Hanifa’s home was reduced to rubble like thousands of others. Displaced and sheltering in a tent, she felt lost and hopeless.

“How can a mother bring a child into this chaos?” Hanifa thought. “But then Rahna, the midwife, arrived like an angel.”

Rahna, a UNFPA-supported midwife, was on hand to help guide her through labor and bring her baby safely into the world. "It was a challenging situation, but when I saw the relief on Hanifa's face as she held her baby, I felt a profound sense of pride,” Rahna said. “I was able to save not just one life but two — the baby and Hanifa.”

In the aftermath of catastrophe, addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls often takes a backseat to other urgent humanitarian priorities. That’s why UNFPA is deploying midwives to places like Afghanistan, where childbirth can be a death sentence without proper access to care.

Will you make a gift today to train and deploy more midwives who will deliver lifesaving care to pregnant women like Hanifa across the globe?

Hanifa’s labor lasted six hours and her blood pressure spiked. High blood pressure is a leading cause of maternal mortality, despite being largely preventable and treatable.

Quality health care is essential to navigating this danger, and fortunately, Rahna’s skilled support enabled both Hanifa and her newborn to survive.

Healthcare workers like Rahna, though, provide more than specialized care. Hanifa described the midwife as solace personified: “Hope arrived in the form of Rahna. She held my hand, and her words were like a soothing balm for my fears. I went from panic to comfort in moments."

Childbirth during displacement can be dangerous. Pregnant women who have been forced from their homes are more vulnerable to violence, malnutrition, and disease — and they are more likely to give birth without the support of a skilled healthcare worker, raising the risk of life-threatening complications. Midwives are critical to combating these challenges.

UNFPA trains and supports midwives around the globe and, when necessary, dispatches them to emergency situations. Rahna is one of the midwives mobilized to support UNFPA’s mobile health teams, which have been offering medical care, psychosocial support, and reproductive health services to those affected by the earthquakes.

Pregnant women like Hanifa still urgently need care in the form of midwives in the aftermath of the quake. Will you add a gift to deliver lifesaving care to Afghanistan and wherever help is needed most?

Hanifa named her baby boy Ahmad. “In the midst of disaster, we brought a glimmer of hope, and that's a feeling I'll carry with me forever," Rahna said.

Thank you for supporting safe childbirths, even in the bleakest of situations.

— USA for UNFPA