A group of thirty mothers 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 actively in labor.
On duty during that fateful night, a 28-year-old lab technician, a technician named Abdo-Rabo Ahmed, became one of the few known survivors. “The sounds of screaming reached me of women and children,” he states. “A massacre was taking place inside the hospital. We who were able to escape, did so.”
This brutal attack stands as one of the most shocking examples in the protracted internal conflict tearing the African nation apart. Armed soldiers stormed the facility, allegedly slaughtering more than 460 innocent people inside.
Rights organizations have called it “a crime beyond words,” and a stark illustration of the deteriorating protection for civilians caught in conflict zones in multiple global hotspots.
A Record of Violence Against Maternal Care
Although world powers have agreed to the Geneva conventions, which require them to safeguard civilians, the past year has witnessed an unprecedented spike of assaults against medical infrastructure. Women undergoing childbirth are particularly at risk due to their dependence on locally available medical care.
Data analysis and investigations reveal an unprecedented scale of attacks: nearly 300 incidents targeting or hindering places and people associated with childbirth over the last three years, including at least 119 targeted attacks against hospitals and delivery wards.
“These incidents do not represent inevitable outcomes of conflict. They constitute a deliberate strategy of violence against reproduction.”
The majority of these incidents have happened in regions embroiled in intense conflict, where hundreds of thousands of pregnant women are trapped.
Deaths have occurred, denied medical attention, or forced to give birth in perilous and unsafe environments. The data also indicates that at least 68 maternal health workers have been slain, 15 kidnapped, and 101 detained—sometimes while assisting births.
A Worldwide Emergency for Mothers and Newborns
Statistics are thought to be a substantial underreporting, as they capture solely incidents documented publicly. In many conflict zones, information is scarce.
Last year, it was reported that half of all women who lost their lives in maternal circumstances resided in a war zone. This underscores a devastating pattern.
Apart from fatalities, these attacks are destroying hospitals and wards, jeopardizing the future to demographic stability.
The Situation in Gaza
In Gaza, the devastating effect on reproductive health rights 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 are still perishing from inadequate care, owing to critical shortages of medicine and equipment. Agencies have reported women giving birth in rubble because hospitals could not be reached.
“Our facility has endured missile strikes targeting the wards, operating rooms, and maternity wards,” states the head of a major hospital’s gynecology department. A military spokesperson has contested deliberately targeting maternity care or trying to alter birthrates.
The Crisis in Ukraine
Since early 2022, at least 80 childbirth centers have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. Accounts from embattled medical centers describe births taking place in basements and skyrocketing stress leading to problems during delivery.
“Russia is targeting us deliberately,” 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. “If a drone is destroyed, the falling debris may hit a hospital.”
A Culture of Impunity
For the over half a billion females living close to deadly warfare, there are scarce guarantees and a stark lack of legal accountability for those targeting maternity care.
This void of justice has created a “culture of impunity,” argues a human rights lawyer. “Assaults against maternal services, like forced pregnancy or forced sterilisation, are potentially acts of genocide by preventing births.”
Additional Hotspots
In El Fasher, the area had been cut off from humanitarian aid long before the hospital attack, with malnutrition spiking dangerously, especially among children and pregnant women.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, information is limited by a communication blackout from rebel-held areas. Nevertheless, shelling in Goma hit a neonatal ward, causing fatalities among patients and staff.
In Myanmar, clinics have been attacked and dozens of midwives and patients have faced detention, death, or harm over the past two years of civil war.
The Collapse of Safe Childbirth
The majority of childbirth fatalities are avoidable with standard medicine, but war destroys healthcare networks. Rights groups note that terror is compelling women away from facilities once considered safe, pushing them toward risky home births without skilled assistance.
“The deliberate attack on maternity wards indicates a larger and alarming strategy: the use of attacks on medical facilities as a means of intimidation and to destroy community bonds,” observes a legal researcher.
“Safeguards are not guaranteed for hospitals in war. Under the Geneva conventions, medical facilities may forfeit their immunity if used for acts deemed ‘prejudicial to the opposing side’, which has often been cited as an excuse.”
