Dozens of women were seeking shelter in a maternity hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, as the slaughter began. Several had recently given birth, while others were actively in labor.
Present at the hospital after dark, a 28-year-old lab technician, a technician named Abdo-Rabo Ahmed, managed to survive the ordeal. “There were cries 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 two-year civil war tearing the North African nation apart. Combatants forced their way into the building, allegedly slaughtering more than 460 patients and their companions.
Rights organizations have described it as “an unspeakable atrocity,” and a prime example of the collapse in safety for civilians trapped in war-torn areas in multiple global hotspots.
An Unprecedented Assault On Childbirth Services
Despite every significant nation have signed the Geneva conventions, which commit them to defending civilians, the past year has experienced a historic high of violence targeting health services. Expectant mothers are highly exposed due to their dependence on locally available medical care.
Data analysis and investigations show an shocking trend: 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 are not natural consequences of war. They form a pattern of reproductive violence.”
The majority of these attacks have taken place in regions embroiled in intense conflict, where countless of expectant mothers are stranded.
Mothers have lost their lives, prevented from accessing care, or forced to give birth in perilous and unsafe environments. The data also indicates that at least 68 maternal health workers have been murdered, 15 taken hostage, and 101 arrested—sometimes in the act of delivering babies.
A Worldwide Emergency for Mothers and Newborns
Statistics are thought to be a substantial underreporting, as they capture solely incidents covered by the media. In many war-torn areas, communications are sparse.
Last year, findings indicated that one in two mothers who died during pregnancy or childbirth lived amidst hostilities. This underscores a devastating pattern.
In addition to the loss of life, these attacks are obliterating maternal and neonatal care facilities, posing a long-term threat to societal repopulation and recovery.
The Situation in Gaza
In Gaza, the catastrophic impact on reproductive health rights has been cited by a UN commission as part of the basis for declaring certain actions a genocide.
Despite periods of calm, doctors report that women and children succumb from medical shortages, owing to critical shortages of medicine and equipment. UN officials have relayed women having children by the roadside because hospitals were inaccessible.
“We’ve had rockets hitting the wards, operating rooms, and maternity wards,” states the head of a major hospital’s gynecology department. A military spokesperson has denied deliberately targeting maternity care or trying to alter birthrates.
The Crisis in Ukraine
Since early 2022, at least 80 maternity and neonatal facilities have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. Accounts from embattled medical centers describe births forced underground and extreme psychological pressure leading to problems during delivery.
“Russia is targeting us deliberately,” says the head of obstetrics at a repeatedly damaged hospital in Kherson. The government has disputed deliberately targeting civilians.
“The reality is, every facility can be under attack now,” comments a medical director in Sumy. “When defensive systems shoot down an aircraft, the falling debris can strike a hospital.”
A Culture of Impunity
For the over half a billion females living within range of fighting, there are scarce guarantees and rare trials for atrocities for those targeting maternity care.
This void of justice has led to a “culture of impunity,” argues a human rights lawyer. “Assaults against maternal services, like forced pregnancy or forced sterilisation, may constitute acts of genocide by hindering reproduction.”
Other Conflict Zones
In El Fasher, the area was isolated from humanitarian aid long before the hospital attack, with malnutrition increasing drastically, especially among children and pregnant women.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, information is restricted due to a inability to report from rebel-held areas. Nevertheless, shelling in Goma damaged a maternity hospital, causing fatalities among patients and staff.
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 End of Safe Deliveries
Most maternal deaths are averted with basic healthcare, 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.
“When childbirth centers become intentional targets speaks to a wider and more disturbing trend: the use of violence against hospitals as a weapon to spread fear and to break societal cohesion,” says 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 ‘militarily advantageous’, which has now become a standard defence.”
