Arabic version: تفاقم أزمة صحة الأمهات في جبل مرة

According to Allafrica, a severe shortage of hospitals and health centres is endangering mothers and children across the Jebel Marra region of Darfur, leaving communities to depend on their own efforts to reach medical assistance.

In remote villages, residents carry pregnant women on their shoulders for kilometres to the nearest facility, the Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR) reported. Transport is limited and roads are extremely difficult to navigate, while hospitals and clinics are often far from communities.

Women facing obstructed or complicated labour frequently cannot obtain lifesaving treatment in time. Local communities have reported that dozens of mothers died while travelling from their villages toward the nearest health facility.

A DNHR video documented women, men and young people carrying a pregnant woman to a distant clinic for childbirth assistance. The organisation said the footage reflects the conditions faced by women in conflict-affected communities, where adequate maternal healthcare remains largely inaccessible.

DNHR appealed to United Nations agencies, international humanitarian organisations, donors and health partners to establish and equip hospitals, maternity wards and primary healthcare centres across Jebel Marra. It also requested trained midwives, emergency obstetric care, ambulances, essential medicines and reliable referral systems, calling for urgent action to prevent avoidable deaths and protect mothers and children.