Dozens of women had taken refuge in a childbirth facility in El Fasher, Sudan, at the onset of the horrific violence. Among them were new mothers, while others were experiencing childbirth.
Present at the hospital after dark, a 28-year-old lab technician, Abdo-Rabo Ahmed, lived to tell the tale. “I heard the screams of women and children,” he states. “A massacre was taking place inside the hospital. We who were able to escape, did so.”
This appalling incident stands as one of the most shocking examples in the ongoing war tearing the African nation apart. Combatants raided the hospital, reportedly killing more than 460 individuals receiving care and their families.
Rights organizations have described it as “an unspeakable atrocity,” and a stark illustration of the vanishing safeguards for civilians trapped in war-torn areas in multiple global hotspots.
An Unprecedented Assault On Childbirth Services
Despite every significant nation are signatories to the Geneva conventions, which commit them to defending civilians, the past year has seen a record number of assaults against medical infrastructure. Mothers in labor are particularly at risk due to their dependence on locally available medical care.
Data analysis and investigations uncover an alarming level of violence: nearly 300 violent acts against places and people associated with childbirth over the last three years, including at least 119 bombardments of hospitals and delivery wards.
“These incidents do not represent standard wartime hazards. They constitute a systematic assault on childbirth.”
The majority of these assaults have occurred in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, where a vast number of expectant mothers are stranded.
Women have been killed, prevented from accessing care, or compelled to deliver in deplorable situations. The data also indicates that at least 68 maternal health workers have been slain, 15 taken hostage, and 101 taken into custody—sometimes while assisting births.
The Global Crisis in Maternal Health
The numbers are probably a significant underestimate, as they are limited to incidents covered by the media. In many areas of fighting, reporting is limited.
Last year, analysis showed that 50% of women who died during pregnancy or childbirth resided in a war zone. This underscores a horrifying trend.
Apart from fatalities, these attacks are wrecking maternal and neonatal care facilities, posing a long-term threat to societal repopulation and recovery.
Conditions within Gaza
In Gaza, the ruinous consequences on the right to maternal care has been cited by a UN commission as part of the basis for accusations of genocidal acts.
Despite periods of calm, doctors report that women and children succumb from inadequate care, owing to desperate lacks of medicine and equipment. UN officials have relayed women giving birth in rubble because hospitals were out of reach.
“Our facility has endured missile strikes fired at the wards, operating rooms, and maternity wards,” states the head of a major hospital’s gynecology department. A military spokesperson has rejected deliberately targeting maternity care or seeking to affect birthrates.
The Crisis in Ukraine
Since early 2022, at least 80 childbirth centers have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. Journalism from conflict zones describe births taking place in basements and skyrocketing stress leading to maternal health issues.
“We are being singled out,” asserts the head of obstetrics at a repeatedly damaged hospital in Kherson. The government has disputed deliberately targeting civilians.
“The reality is, every facility faces the threat of assault,” comments a medical director in Sumy. “When defensive systems shoot down an aircraft, the falling debris may hit a hospital.”
Accountability Evaporates
For the over half a billion females living near active conflicts, there are minimal protections and even fewer war crimes prosecutions for those assaulting reproductive health.
This lack of accountability has led to a “environment where anything goes,” argues a human rights lawyer. “Attacks on reproductive healthcare, like coerced birth or involuntary sterilization, can be understood as acts of genocide by hindering reproduction.”
Additional Hotspots
In El Fasher, the area lacked access to humanitarian aid long before the hospital attack, with malnutrition rising sharply, especially among children and pregnant women.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, information is restricted due to a communication blackout from rebel-held areas. Nevertheless, shelling in Goma struck a baby care unit, resulting in tragic loss of life.
In Myanmar, hospitals have come under fire and dozens of midwives and patients have suffered violence over the past two years of civil war.
The Collapse of Safe Childbirth
Most maternal deaths are preventable with routine care, but war destroys healthcare networks. Rights groups note that anxiety is forcing women away from facilities once considered safe, resulting in risky home births lacking professional help.
“The deliberate attack on maternity wards speaks to a broader and more sinister pattern: the use of violence against hospitals as a weapon to spread fear and to destroy community bonds,” observes a legal researcher.
“Safeguards are not guaranteed for hospitals in war. Under the Geneva conventions, medical facilities are not inviolable if used for acts deemed ‘prejudicial to the opposing side’, which has now become a standard defence.”
