Mona was about to give birth. She expected the 40km journey to the hospital would take four hours from her home on top of rocky mountains. But with no roads—suffering pains and in bad weather—it took seven hours instead. “With every step the camel took forward, I was torn apart,” she said. When the camel could go no further, Mona got down and walked the final leg of her journey with heavy steps.
While holding on the camel tightly, Mona feared for her safety and that of her unborn child. “The road was rocky,” she said, recalling the “physically and mentally exhausting trip. There were times I prayed that God would take me away and protect my baby so I could escape the pain.” Mona has no memory of arriving at the hospital but she does remember being filled with hope after hearing her baby’s cries.
The roads to the hospital from nearby villages are narrow. Women, family members, or partners often assist pregnant women for hours through the hills to the hospital. Salma Abdu, 33, who was accompanying a mother, said that halfway through her journey she saw a pregnant woman who had died at night on her way.
A woman dies every two hours during childbirth from preventable causes in Yemen, according to Hicham Nahro of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Yemen. Mr Nahro said it was often the case that women in remote areas did not have regular check-ups or seek help unless they started bleeding or were in severe pain. Fewer than half of births are assisted by a skilled doctor. Hospitals are lacking qualified staff, equipment and medicines, and investment in roads and infrastructure has stalled. Only one in five of the functioning facilities can provide reliable maternal and child health services.
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