Pregnant women in Sudan are dying during childbirth as war, medical shortages and long journeys prevent them from receiving emergency care in time.
In Golo, in western Sudan’s Central Darfur region, one hospital provides Caesarean sections to communities scattered across vast, mountainous terrain.
Women in labour often walk for hours or travel on crude wooden stretchers while bleeding or suffering life-threatening complications.
Those who cannot afford transport may arrive too late, putting their lives and those of their newborns at serious risk, UNFPA said Friday.
The hospital also struggles with shortages of essential medicines, including anaesthetic and oxytocin, which helps prevent deadly bleeding after childbirth.
In Tawila, a sprawling displacement camp about 100 kilometres from Golo, more than 700,000 displaced people face similarly severe humanitarian needs.
Some women travel from Golo to Tawila for emergency Caesarean sections, spending hours crossing difficult mountainous terrain.
UNFPA Sudan representative Fabrizia Falcione said some women arrive when medical workers can no longer save them or their babies.
She called for healthcare services to be brought closer to vulnerable communities through expanded mobile clinics and stronger support for community midwives.
The crisis comes as Sudan’s war between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces enters its fourth year.
The UN also warned that more than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in neighbouring South Sudan risk losing vital assistance.
Up to 3,000 refugees and returnees arrive from Sudan each week, adding pressure to already overstretched humanitarian resources.
The World Food Programme faces a $37 million funding shortfall for its refugee response, while UNHCR remains severely underfunded.
