Ashwaq lives in a remote village where access to health services and education remains very limited.

She lost her own baby in childbirth so she knows better than most why her role as a midwife and nurse is so vital in Yemen.

“I work hard and face difficulties when trying to convince the inhabitants to adopt new healthy habits, but I see the impact of my actions every day. I save the lives of mothers and children and this is my main motivation to keep doing this job.”

   

Ashwaq attending the community-based maternal and newborn care training at Ma’abar hospital | Yemen | 2018

Ashwaq remembers one woman who lost two babies in childbirth. When she fell pregnant again she came to Ashwaq.

“I followed her pregnancy very closely and provided her with prenatal care. When she was about to give birth, the family didn’t have enough money to pay for the cesarean section. 

“All the villagers contributed and the operation was done. She gave birth to a girl and I feel that somehow, this daughter is mine.”

Midwife Support in Remote Areas of Yemen 

Asma visiting the home of some of her most rural and remote patients | Yemen | 2018

In rural areas, UNICEF-supported midwives often walk for hours, sometimes days at a time, over rugged mountain paths, to reach remote communities in war-torn Yemen.

Asma’a is a Community Health Worker in a remote village in the mountains and works to take care of pregnant women and their vulnerable newborns. 

Asma’a treats pregnant women and children in her own village, as well as people from other villages who go to her for help.  

Asma travels long distances to visit her patients | Yemen | 2018

Often the women cannot travel long distances or are too unwell to travel, so she walks at least two hours each way to reach the most vulnerable women and children. 

“I wake up every morning and get everything ready, then I go to the next villages. The nearest village to me is two hours’ walk away. What keeps me going, despite the difficulties, is saving a patient. 

“I am so happy when I treat children and see their smiles and when their mothers thank me and pray for me. “

Life-Saving Care For Mother and Baby 

Your donations are helping to support health workers like Warda.

She is one of hundreds of Community Midwives working in remote and poor communities in Yemen where problems can develop suddenly and unexpectedly.

Regular visits by Community Midwives like her can help improve the chances of having a healthy baby and safe delivery.

“I was recently called out to help a woman called Alia. She lives in a very remote area where there is no health service at all. Giving birth is very dangerous for women like Alia so there was no time to lose.

“I left immediately but it took me a long time to reach her because the roads are so difficult here. By the time I got there, Alia’s baby had been born but she was bleeding heavily because the placenta had not come out.

Warda visiting the home of one of her patients | Yemen | 2018

“I arrived just in time because I was able to remove the placenta and stop the bleeding. All the time I was reassuring Alia because she was very distressed. If I hadn’t got there, I fear she would have died and her baby would have been left without a mother.”

Donate Now 

Last year, thanks to your donations, UNICEF-trained Community Midwives made sure that more than: 

634,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers had healthcare support in their own homes. 

228,000 pregnant women had skilled birth attendance, ensuring the safe delivery of their new babies. 

413,000 pregnant women had antenatal care and almost 82,000 women had postnatal care.

 

Please continue to save mothers and babies in Yemen by donating now.