Responding to the worsening access to maternity services

Giving birth in remote rural areas can be challenging due to lack of access to medical facilities and trained medical professionals. In Marib, pregnant women living in hard-to-reach areas are being forced to pack their bags and go to hospitals downtown to wait for the birth of their babies, where it’s unfortunately far away from family.

In response to worsening access to maternity services and essential healthcare in rural areas,

RDP, in partnership with Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), has implemented the integrated health and nutrition project by supporting four health facilities (Al Mahjizah, Raquel, Al Lakmah and Shujaa) with lifesaving medical services to approximately serve 19,839 individuals of most vulnerable IDPs and affected host communities in Sirwah and Harib Al Qaramish districts of Marib governorate.

Aya Nassar, a pregnant mother at the age of 23, had a 12-hour pain and obstructed delivery at home in Harib Al Qaramish district. She was then transferred to Al-Hazm Rural Hospital to give birth by a caesarean section, however, in light of the war conditions and interruption of earnings/salaries, parents couldn’t afford such amount of money for the operation. Fortunately, on their way to Al-Hazm Rural Hospital, the family had seen Shujaa health unit – RDP-supported HF – where our trained doctor and midwife evaluated the case and decided to give the pregnant mother a chance for natural birth.

Within 12 hours, the mother has received the best care and was able to give birth naturally without medical interventions. Thanks to our health workers who have done everything possible to help the mother avoid C-sections and ensured that, the mother and her child are in good health after one hour of the delivery. Indeed, the project has responded to the dire health needs and increased access to high-quality core components of the minimum service package (MSP) as well as lifesaving nutrition services for the most vulnerable people including IDPs, targeting four health facilities in Sirwah and Harib Al Qaramesh districts of Marib governorate.