Pregnancy doesn’t stop for war, displacement or outbreaks of disease—and neither should healthcare. Though progress has been made globally on maternal and newborn health outcomes, progress is threatened in the 29 countries with humanitarian response plans—which, while representing only one-third of global births, account for 58% of maternal deaths, 41% of stillbirths and 39% of newborn deaths.
Across many countries—including Gaza, Yemen, South Sudan and Ukraine—International Medical Corps is keeping mothers and newborns safe. By combining innovations with sustainable programs and training, we help build stronger health systems, even when supplies, staff and security are under extreme strain.
“In crises, the risks of pregnancy don’t disappear—they multiply,” says Lauren Bellhouse, Senior Advisor for Maternal and Newborn Health. “That’s why we focus on keeping essential maternal and newborn healthcare running, even in the most challenging conditions. Our teams work to bridge essential gaps by directly providing health services and training, introducing technological innovations and providing long-term system support, so that mothers and their babies can receive safe, quality care, no matter the conditions.”
Here are stories from just a few of the countries where we’re working to protect mothers and their children.
Making Safe Births Possible in Gaza
Ongoing hostilities in Gaza have pushed more than 80% of its population out of their homes. Among the millions of people trying to access severely restricted health services are tens of thousands of pregnant women in need of uninterrupted maternal healthcare.
Across our three field hospitals—in Al Zawaida, Deir Al-Balah and Gaza City—we provide comprehensive maternal and newborn-care services to civilians in need, including:
- safe delivery;
- emergency obstetric care, including cesarean section, a common yet potentially complex surgical procedure; and
- antenatal and postnatal care.
We also provide physiotherapy sessions and mental health and psychosocial support to pregnant women and children, when needed.
Maryam Al-Ja’al, 37, was pregnant when the fighting in Gaza started in 2023. When she was 13 weeks pregnant, an airstrike in the area where her family was sheltering left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her condition was extremely high-risk, so when her pregnancy progressed to 33 weeks, her husband sought help from doctors at our field hospital in Al Zawaida. Our medical team closely monitored her and addressed the neurological and obstetric challenges. At 38 weeks, doctors delivered a healthy baby via C-section.
After her delivery, Maryam received comprehensive care, including anticoagulation medication, specialized wound care, mobility assistance, psychological support and adaptive techniques to bond with her baby. “I’m deeply grateful to International Medical Corps for its holistic support, without which this safe birth, and my recovery, wouldn’t have been possible,” Maryam says.
Amal Abu Zarqa, 23, found lifesaving care at our field hospital in Deir Al-Balah. Pregnant with twins and displaced from her home, Amal went into premature labor at 31 weeks, experiencing severe pain and vaginal bleeding. Because her placenta had partially separated, she needed urgent obstetric intervention. Specialized teams from different departments at the hospital coordinated maternal, neonatal and psychosocial care for Amal and her twins, which helped her safely deliver two girls via vaginal birth. However, one of the twins, Wateen, weighed just 1.4 kilograms and had difficulty breathing, so doctors quickly transferred her to the hospital’s neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU), where she received additional respiratory support and nutritional care.
“This is the best hospital I’ve seen in Gaza,” Amal says. Compared to any other hospital, this one has all the facilities necessary for a safe delivery. I’m so glad I gave birth here.”
Maryam and Amal’s stories show how coordinated and comprehensive care makes safer births possible, even in a conflict zone. In 2025, our skilled birth attendants assisted in more than 5,000 deliveries across the three field hospitals.
Expanding Care Through Training and Technology in Yemen
For pregnant women in remote villages in Yemen, accessing maternal healthcare often requires long, arduous journeys on foot over difficult terrain—risking their health, and the health of their unborn child. Expensive transportation options, poor financial conditions, unreliable electricity and a lack of equipment and trained staff in health facilities make pregnancy and childbirth a stressful experience for most Yemeni women.
But that is slowly changing. International Medical Corps is combining innovative technology and training to advance maternal and neonatal health in the country, bringing lifesaving care home to women who can’t easily access it. Last year alone, 18,941 babies were safely delivered with help from our skilled birth attendants.
The adaptable technologies that can be deployed rapidly in low‑resource settings include:
- rapid anemia diagnostics;
- calibrated blood-collection drapes to check postpartum hemorrhage;
- portable continuous positive-airway pressure (CPAP) systems for newborn breathing support; and
- handheld ultrasound devices.
To ensure efficient use of these tools, we are training health workers across the country, reaching 185 healthcare professionals in 13 districts since April 2025.
Shurooq, a midwife at the Al-Maja’asha Health Unit in Hays district, participated in September 2025 in a session on maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition. In December, she attended another training session to learn how to use a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), a critical diagnostic tool that became available at the Al-Maja’asha Health Unit a month later. The skills she gained have since helped her manage high-risk pregnancy cases, even outside the formal setting of her clinic.
Sumia, 25, became pregnant with her third child in April 2025, and was diagnosed with anemia during her third trimester. Equipped with her clinical training, Shurooq was able to monitor and keep track of Sumia’s hemoglobin level, provide the necessary medication and—using the handheld POCUS device—confirm fetal development.
On a rainy day in late January, Sumia went into labor but couldn’t reach the health center due to poor weather and dangerous roads. Confident in the skills she had gained from the training, Shurooq helped Sumia deliver a healthy baby in her home.
To prevent postpartum hemorrhage—the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide—Shurooq used a calibrated obstetric drape to accurately monitor Sumia’s blood loss, ensuring that immediate intervention could be taken if necessary. She also provided essential newborn care, including thermal protection, and ensured that Sumia initiated breastfeeding soon after birth.
“I am deeply grateful to Shurooq for her constant, professional care throughout my pregnancy,” Sumia says. “Now, my family and residents from even the most distant villages visit the health unit regularly. We have seen a remarkable improvement in essential services, particularly in maternal and newborn health, and in routine vaccinations, which are available for free.”
Alia Mohammed Jaber Haidra, 26, delivered four children at the Radfan General Hospital, which serves as a key referral facility for newborn care across surrounding districts, where neonatal services remain limited or unavailable. The hospital receives a high volume of complex neonatal cases, many of which require urgent and specialized care.
Alia lost her third child due to respiratory complications, despite the medical team’s best efforts. Her fourth child was born prematurely and also developed breathing difficulties. But this time, the neonatal team intervened immediately and stabilized the baby’s condition with a bubble CPAP device.
The bubble CPAP is a specialized oxygen blender that delivers oxygen in safe, precise amounts to newborns, infants and children up to 5. It also maintains constant airway pressure to prevent the baby’s lungs from collapsing and humidifies the nasal passages to prevent drying. Designed specifically for low-resource settings, the bubble CPAP device is powered by the pressure from an oxygen tank, making it suitable for health facilities with an unstable power supply.
According to Dr. Mohammed Hammash, a pediatrician at Radfan General Hospital, this innovation has transformed the management of respiratory distress in the neonatal unit.
“We used to manage newborns with breathing difficulties, but it was often complex and restricted,” he says. “With the new system, newborns can now receive immediate, non-invasive respiratory support upon admission, leading to faster stabilization, reduced complications and shorter hospital stays.”
Preventing and Treating PPH in South Sudan
In South Sudan, where there are around 560 doctors serving more than 12 million people, ongoing displacement and economic hardship affect women’s access to essential maternal and newborn health services. Many experience pregnancy and motherhood alongside uncertainty, limited resources and long distances to care. As a result, South Sudan is one of the most dangerous places to give birth, with an estimated maternal mortality ratio of 789 deaths per 100,000 live births. Neonatal mortality is equally high, at 37 per 1,000 live births.
Working closely with South Sudan’s Ministry of Health (MoH), International Medical Corps is implementing the Safer Births in Crises project, working with the International Rescue Committee, Jhpiego and UNFPA. The project is helping more women access lifesaving medicines and supplies to prevent and treat post-partum hemorrhage (PPH).
PPH is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, responsible for more than one-quarter of maternal deaths—most of which could be avoided with adequate prevention during the third stage of labor, more accurate diagnosis and appropriate, timely treatment. The World Health Organization now recommends using simple tools to measure blood loss after childbirth accurately and, when needed, simultaneously provide a set of treatments to improve survival. This approach, known as the EMOTIVE bundle, was shown in a landmark 2023 study to reduce severe bleeding, surgeries and deaths by 60%.
The EMOTIVE bundle combines:
- early (E) measurement of blood loss;
- uterine massage (M);
- uterotonic medicines, such as oxytocin (O);
- tranexamic (T) acid and intravenous (IV) fluids; and
- escalation (E) of care to stop bleeding quickly.
“As a medical doctor working in this field for more than two decades, I’ve seen the life-threatening effects of post-partum hemorrhage firsthand,” says Dr. Ebadullah Hedayat, Medical Director for International Medical Corps in South Sudan. “The EMOTIVE bundle has revolutionized our work. Combined with antenatal and postnatal care, we can help ensure safe deliveries, better long-term outcomes for mothers and their babies, and a brighter future for each family in our care.”
Additionally, International Medical Corps has invested in midwifery training in South Sudan. The world is facing an estimated shortage of 900,000 midwives, with 50% of the shortfall in Africa. With enough trained midwives, we could reduce maternal and newborn deaths by two-thirds globally.
That’s why International Medical Corps has supported the MoH since 2013 in operating four midwife training schools in the country, providing a three-year, globally accredited curriculum with dedicated clinical rotations and mentorship. Through these efforts, International Medical Corps and our partners have helped increase the number of trained and registered midwives in the country from only six in 2011—when South Sudan became an independent country—to more than 700 today.
“The importance of maternal and newborn healthcare cannot be understated,” explains Chuol Ker Yat, Senior Midwife Supervisor with International Medical Corps in South Sudan. He received midwife training at Kajo Keji Science Institute in Juba, which was supported by International Medical Corps, more than 10 years ago. “Growing up in South Sudan, I knew I wanted to go into midwifery, as there is a great need in my country. Now, I not only work as a midwife, but I also supervise and train the next generation of midwives, helping to ensure families in my community, and across the country, receive healthcare.”
Nyachuom Domach, an 18-year-old resident of a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Juba, has lived there since 2014. She and her family were displaced by sectoral conflict in South Sudan. Living with her parents in the camp, she accesses maternal and newborn health services, including antenatal care, at an International Medical Corps-supported facility there. Nyachuom safely delivered her daughter at the camp facility earlier this month, and she and her daughter are now receiving postnatal care.
Nyaruot Kuot, a 20-year-old returnee who initially fled South Sudan to Sudan, returned to South Sudan in 2023 after fleeing the Sudan conflict. She initially settled in Juba IDP Camp, where she lived until 2025 before moving to a host community after her shelter was destroyed. Unfortunately, that community lacks a nearby health facility. Despite this, Nyaruot traveled back to the Juba IDP camp regularly to access antenatal care services at the same health facility as Nyachuom.
“At first, it was not easy to keep coming back,” Nyaruot recalls. “But I knew I needed to check on my baby and make sure everything was okay.”
Nyaruot received free maternal health services at the facility throughout her pregnancy and safely delivered her son in mid-April. She now receives postnatal care, which supports both her recovery and her baby’s development.
“Now I feel happy because my baby is healthy, and I am also well,” Nyaruot says.
Improving Access to Safe Childbirth Services in Ukraine
Being pregnant in a war zone is anything but easy. People in frontline regions are often unable to access care due to persistent shelling. Those who do make it to hospitals for maternal health services often face quality-of-care issues due to a limited number of specialists and supplies needed for a safe labor, particularly if complications arise. International Medical Corps has helped address these gaps by donating essential medical equipment and furniture.
For example, after conducting an assessment at Pervomaysk Maternity Hospital in Mykolaiv to identify gaps in treatment, we donated test kits, recovery beds and medicines. The beds enabled doctors to transfer mothers from the labor room to the recovery room without the discomfort of having to move from one bed to another—a simple but meaningful improvement. The bassinets for the babies were spacious and comfortable, too.
Features like these motivated Hanna, a mother of two, to choose the Pervomaysk Maternity Hospital for her second delivery.
“I had confidence in the medical team not just because of their expertise but also because of the comfortable environment they create at the hospital for new mothers and babies,” she says.
We also provided the hospital with an obstetric chair for gynecological examinations, making the process easier for the doctor and the patient.
“International Medical Corps’ support has made instrumental examinations during pregnancy possible at our hospital,” says Alona Hocharova, Medical Officer at the hospital.
We also have supported Maternity Hospital No. 5 in Odesa, which serves a large region along the Black Sea coastline. To ensure that the hospital is well-equipped to handle complex deliveries, we donated medicines and medical equipment; provided the laboratory with centrifuges and the hospital wards with blankets, heaters and new beds for mothers and children; donated incubators to the NICU and equipped the operating room with an operating table, a laparoscopic stand and an anesthesia machine; and provided furniture and special beds for the bomb shelter in the basement, enabling mothers and children to be comfortable while taking refuge during the attacks that are all too frequent in the city. We also trained hospital staff on infant feeding in emergencies.
“Thanks to International Medical Corps’ support, my delivery at the hospital was as safe as possible in the current situation,” says Natalya Kalieieva, who gave birth at Maternity Hospital No. 5 at 42 weeks via an emergency C-section.
The experiences of these women reflect the realities faced by most people in crisis-affected settings, where access to care is not always straightforward but remains essential. International Medical Corps is committed to providing maternal and newborn health services wherever they are needed, helping to ensure that women can access care during pregnancy and childbirth, and work toward healthier futures for themselves and their families. Learn more about our maternal and newborn health programs.