“I didn’t know if she would make it.” Those were the words of Faduma as she watched her newborn premature daughter who was tiny, underweight, and barely breathing struggle for life at Banadir Hospital in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

The silence after birth was terrifying and hope felt out of reach until her daughter was placed in a new incubator and given oxygen. “When my daughter was placed in the incubator and given oxygen, her condition began to improve. We’re both doing well now,” Faduma told the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

Faduma checks on her daughter, who was born prematurely, at the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Just months earlier, Faduma’s daughter might have not survived because the hospital’s newborn ICU was severely under-resourced, lacking lifesaving essentials like incubators, oxygen support, and monitoring tools.

Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Salad, Head of the Newborn Care Department at Banadir Hospital, explained that the recent arrival of maternal and newborn health equipment allows more babies to receive the critical care they desperately need in their first few hours. “Now hundreds of Somali newborns, especially from families who cannot afford private hospitals, can benefit. We used to have to turn them away. Now we can save them.”

“I will never forget how I felt,” Faduma remembers. “But now, every time I hear her breathing, I know she’s here because someone cared enough to help us.”

Will you be that someone? More mothers and their babies have a much higher chance of survival with critical equipment and medicines that you can provide. The lives of vulnerable women and newborns count on compassionate supporters like you. If you can, please find it in your heart to make a lifesaving gift today.

The reality is still dire in Somalia. Resources remain scarce and the need is great. Only 30% of public health facilities are fully functional and can provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care, and around one in 20 women die during pregnancy and childbirth.

“One of the most discouraging moments in my work is when patients urgently seek treatment, but we lack the medical supplies to help them properly. In those moments, I feel hopeless but still try to offer support with my own resources. When a mother comes to you and you can’t afford her medicines, you can feel how painful it is.” said midwife Maryam Mohamed Isse, who works at a maternal healthcare center in a camp for displaced families in Somalia.

Midwife Maryam Mohamed Isse conducts a check-up on a pregnant woman at a maternal and child health facility located in a camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district.

This year, UNFPA needs $45 million to keep hospitals like Banadir open, staffed, and equipped. We have received just 3% of that. Without your immediate support, these lifesaving services are at serious risk.

WIth immense need in Somalia and crisis-stricken regions, gifts from supporters like you are vital to ensure more mothers like Faduma can hear the first cries of their newborns. Your lifesaving gift can help us reach the most vulnerable women and newborns before it’s too late.

With hope and gratitude,

— USA for UNFPA