Where the health system collapsed, community midwives are quietly holding life together — and proving it can be done.

Afghan Midwives Fill the Gap Left by a Collapsing Health System

In Helmand and northwestern Afghanistan, 30-year-old Ram Bibi and 40-year-old Manawara received prenatal care, emergency stabilization, and safe deliveries at UNFPA-supported family health houses staffed by midwives like Marzia. Bibi, pregnant with her sixth child, had previously delivered at home without skilled help and suffered infections. A 2024 study found fewer than one-third of Afghans can access health care amid a deteriorating system and severe restrictions on women's movement. Over 450 family health houses now provide maternal and newborn care, and UNFPA with the Maternity Foundation plans to train over 3,000 more midwives by 2027.

Source: Afghan Midwives Fill the Gap Left by a Collapsing Health System — Reasons to be Cheerful

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