Few medical facilities are still functioning in Darfur, Sudan, and pregnant women face a disastrous journey to seek care. Anxiety, checkpoints, and affordable or unavailable transport forces you to take on a day trek by foot or donkey, often resulting in childbirth complications, miscarriage or death.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) operates in 10 of Sudan’s 18 states, witnessing the serious casualties that have been put on war on women and their health in Darfur and across the country.
In the West and Central Darfur, many women living in remote areas give birth at home and rely on traditional methods. Lack of medical facilities, travel distance, road anxiety, and transportation prices often seek health care only after facing complications, putting both the baby’s life and the baby’s life at great risk.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 70% of health facilities in conflict-affected areas like Darfur are almost operational or completely closed, leaving millions without access to critical care during one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history.
“One mother gave birth at home and she was bleeding, so they rushed her to the hospital,” says Wendemagegn Tefera Benty, MSF Project Medical Referral at Zalingay Hospital in central Darfur. “The family had to carry her. After a day’s walk, when they arrived (the hospital), she had already died of bleeding.”
The ongoing conflict in Sudan has a major impact on the health of pregnant women and their babies, particularly in terms of the industry of preterm birth. It has left people unemployed and disrupted access to food and clean water. As a result, many pregnant women arrive at hospitals that are malnourished, which directly affects the health of the baby, often leading to premature birth and malnutrition. After these babies are born, they are frequently recognized in the observation unit to ensure their survival and happiness.
“The biggest challenge is how to bring food to my child,” says a childbirth patient at Murnei Hospital in West Darfur. “I worked a lot when I was pregnant. That might be why my baby was born weak. Access to health care was also difficult, but MSF helped.”
MSF-Supported Zalingei Hospital is the only referral hospital that is available for an estimated 500,000 specialist medical services. There are no other medical facilities in the area to manage delivery. At Zalingei Hospital’s operating theater, teams perform more than 40 emergency caesarean section operations per month.
Afaf’s Omar Yahiya experienced severe abdominal pain at home as her pregnancy was about to come to Term. Due to the lack of transport in Darfur, she had no choice but to travel by donkey for hours to arrive at Zalingi Hospital. When she arrives, the doctor informs her that she was suffering from a miscarriage and she needs to have an emergency Caesarean section.
“Losing a baby was my biggest heartbreak,” says AFAF.
Women across Darfur share similar experiences, but the situation shows no signs of improvement.
“Most of the complications we receive are caused by home delivery and anemia during pregnancy,” says Virginie Mukamiza, midwife activities manager at Zalingei Hospital.
Pregnant women seek medical care when they have postnatal bleeding or sepsis.
“Most medical facilities in Darfur are now simply empty buildings,” says Osanatusu St. Bangara, MSF midwife activities manager at MSF Supported Murnei Hospital in West Darfur. “There’s no staff, no medicine. There’s nothing at all. Before the war, people had at least access to basic medical centres near their homes. Now they have to resort to large hospitals that are far away.”
While many of these situations may be prevented by prenatal consultations and appropriate referral systems from basic healthcare facilities, most of them have either stopped services since the onset of war or rely on humanitarian assistance that is not widely available to provide services.
Most medical facilities in Darfur are currently empty buildings. Before the war, people had access to a basic medical centre at least near their homes. Now they have to resort to large hospitals far away.
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Twelve days after giving birth at home, Samilla visited Romalia’s mobile clinic in a remote location in West Darfur, where she had her and her babies checked out. Upon arrival, she was running a high fever and infected her arm with a wound. After the delivery she had experienced severe stomach pains. Her brother injected her injected her to lower her temperature, but injured her arm. She was in pain and couldn’t hold the baby properly. After several tests, the clinic team discovered the infection in her arm. They were quickly disinfected, injured and prescribed treatment.
The widespread effects of war threaten catching women and girls in a never-ending cycle of malnutrition, a decline in health, and a cycle of maternal death.
We reiterate our call to significantly expand our provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance and access to Darfur’s healthcare. Fighting parties must grant unhindered access to provide assistance and mitigate the obstacles that are preventing people from reaching health care. Donors must be fully involved in order to increase sustainable funding to enhance humanitarian response.
