Afghanka named Nasrin was in the final stage of pregnancy when she felt severe pain. Her husband worked in Iran, and she and her mother tried to get to the hospital. Along the way, they were arrested by the Taliban, who refused them to travel without a male escort. Due to long delays, the child died. Later, the mother herself died due to blood loss.
Another case took place in Kandahar. The young woman gave birth in a taxi on her way to the hospital – her husband did not arrive on time. The child died of suffocation – there was not enough oxygen in the car. – I asked why she didn't come before. She replied: “I had to wait until my husband came back from work. I had no other guardian” – says the midwife.
Hospital employees in Afghan provinces report that women are routinely prevented by access to medical services because they are not accompanied by men. Two women tell the daily “The Guardian” that they had miscarried because they could not get medical care. One of the interlocutors informed about the death of her sister during delivery.
– Most of them come in critical condition, and some die simply because they were brought too late. Some children die in the womb, and others a few minutes after birth – explains a health care worker from Kandahar.
The Taliban also refuse Afghan women to take medicines without the accompanying guardian. – After the Taliban comes to power, women do not visit doctors until the disease becomes unbearable – says one of the doctors.
According to the World Health Organization report every day in Afghanistan, for reasons that can be prevented, 24 mothers and 167 children die. It is estimated that in over 20,000 Villages throughout the country lack basic health services, which affects 14 million people. According to the UN recent report, by 2026, the likelihood of a woman's death during delivery will increase by 50 percent.
