The effects of the April 15, 2024, war between the armed forces and the forces supporting them against the Rapid Support Forces were reflected on pregnant women in Darfur with regard to the level of health care they need during pregnancy. This is due to the almost complete collapse of the health sector in the region. Dr. Gillian Burkhart, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health Activities at MSF in Nyala, South Darfur, says: “I have never seen a crisis like this in my entire career. Newborns, pregnant women and new mothers are dying in huge numbers from conditions that were often preventable, but almost everything has been disrupted.”
In its latest report, UN Women estimated the number of pregnant women in Sudan at more than 160,000, and it is expected that 54,000 births will occur in the next three months. While health specialists suggested that the maternal mortality rate in Sudan would rise from 6.7% before the war to 15% after the outbreak of the war. In the pre-war period, the country recorded the highest mortality rate among pregnant women in the world, ranging between 100 and 150 women out of every 10,000 births. This prompted the Federal Ministry of Health at the time to develop three strategies to reduce deaths, which included activating pregnancy and childbirth emergencies, improving and rehabilitating midwifery and obstetrics services, and raising the rate of use of family planning methods. In this report, the Salamedia team monitors the conditions of pregnant women in the region, the statistics of deaths among them following the outbreak of war, the causes of death, and the level of primary health care services available to pregnant women.
Death statistics
It was not possible to obtain accurate statistics on the number of women who lost their lives during pregnancy due to the lack of primary health care, in light of the almost complete collapse of the health sector in the region and the difficulties of accessing health facilities. However, Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF) monitored the death of 46 pregnant women between January and August 2024, at Nyala Teaching Hospital and Cass Hospital, which the organization operates. The Sudan Tribune newspaper documented three deaths of pregnant women in the city of Nyala, the Umm Jinnah area, west of the city, and the Atash camp for the displaced, north of the town.
Mai Muhammad, Director of the Reproductive Health Department at the Ministry of Health in South Darfur, told Darfur 24 newspaper that the Ministry conducted two surveys to monitor maternal deaths, the first in April 2024, in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders, which included the Kalma, Atash and Derej camps, where about 70 cases were recorded. death. While the second survey was conducted in August 2024 in the Atash, Kalma and Majok camps, in cooperation with Alite International, where the survey monitored 17 deaths.
In the same context, Taiba Omar Bakhit, Director of Reproductive Health in South Darfur, indicated the death of 4 pregnant women at Nyala Teaching Hospital in July 2024. It revealed that only 44 centers are in service out of a total of 164 centers providing health care services to pregnant women. She added, “Even this cannot communicate with the centers, due to the lack of capabilities and mechanisms for movement that were burned and destroyed during the war,” she added. “There are no communications networks.” Taiba explained that there are now 7 rural hospitals working to provide maternity and childhood services out of 14 hospitals. The Central Darfur Ministry of Health reported that the state has more than 20 primary health care centers. According to the Director General of the Ministry of Health in the state, Muhammad Amin Rizkallah, there is one prenatal death for every 40 pregnant women, for reasons related to fetal poisoning, sudden bleeding, anemia as a result of malnutrition, and other unrelated conditions. well-known; There is also one death after childbirth for every 25 women as a result of severe bleeding after surgeries, blood diseases, andchronic diseases. She stated that the organizations’ intervention contributed to reducing the number of deaths, especially after childbirth, thanks to their support for free surgeries, and their interest in the nutrition department.
In East Darfur State, a crude oil leak from petroleum pipelines in the Gad El-Sayed area of Abu Karnka locality led to seven pregnant women suffering miscarriages.
The Ministry of Health in North Darfur indicated the death of nine pregnant women in the Kafut area, northwest of El Fasher city, as a result of their inability to access health services. According to Halima Adam Abdullah Suleiman, a midwife working in Abu Shouk camp, during the three months prior to May 2024, “there were deaths during childbirth due to weak blood and bleeding, and we were often unable to save the mothers.” However, it did not provide accurate statistics for the number of deaths. “We received between thirty and forty women, including five cases of bleeding and many complications, including anemia.”
Causes of deaths According to an interview conducted by Darfur 24 with Taiba Omar Bakhit, Director of Reproductive Health in South Darfur, the most prominent causes of death of pregnant women are pre-partum hemorrhage, infections, and eczema; In addition, the war conditions made pregnant women unable to reach health care services. She explained that most rural hospitals suffer from a severe shortage of reproductive health services, at a time when families are facing extremely difficult economic conditions, which doubles the suffering of pregnant women in providing complete nutrition for themselves and their fetuses. Taiba added to the SalaaMedia Center that there is environmental pollution resulting from the war, which has caused deaths of mothers and newborns in the centers, in addition to the delay in referral due to the difficulty of deportation and the rugged roads leading to some hospitals.
in the same context, the Ministry of health in north Darfur attributes the causes of deaths among pregnant women to the ongoing battles and the siege imposed on the city of El Fasher since May 2024 AD. This is based on the reports it has been constantly receiving from hospitals and rural health centers. The issue of deaths among pregnant women in Darfur is added to the series of humanitarian tragedies that people in the region face on a daily basis. Deaths are increasing day by day among pregnant women, especially newborns. The matter enters into a crisis that is difficult to resolve. The numbers cited in this report, citing international organizations and interviews conducted by the SalaaMedia team, do not indicate circumstantial incidents caused by the effects of the ongoing war’ rather, it extends to what we might call “the execution of the future.” Can this be added to the list of crimes against humanity committed by warring parties? Which might require investigation? Through this report, SalaaMedia draws attention to the danger of increasing deaths among pregnant women and newborns.