When Shahnaz went into labor, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them.
She was in a lot of pain, he says, recalling the drive to the clinic in Shesh Pol, north-eastern Badakhshan province, where their two older children were born.
But upon arrival, Abdul was devastated to find the clinic closed—one of over 400 medical facilities in Afghanistan that have shut down following drastic aid cuts by the Trump administration earlier this year.
With an alarming maternal mortality rate in the country, the Shesh Pol clinic was a crucial lifeline, featuring trained midwives and essential healthcare services to assist in childbirth.
Abdul and Shahnaz made the difficult decision to return home as the only other facilities were too far and costly to reach. Tragically, their baby girl was born en route, and shortly after, Shahnaz died from excessive bleeding. Hours later, their newborn also succumbed to complications.
“I wept and screamed. My wife and child could've been saved if the clinic was open,” Abdul lamented, emphasizing the haunting absence of medical aid in life-threatening situations.
Across Afghanistan, maternal health is deteriorating amid ongoing healthcare funding cuts. Family members of other women who died in childbirth echoed Abdul’s grief, highlighting a growing crisis with direct links to the withdrawal of US financial support due to alleged corruption associated with the Taliban.
Despite claims from the US government stating that aid cuts have not resulted in deaths, the personal stories and escalating mortality rates expose a tragic reality that is being overlooked.
Interviewed families express a collective sorrow and anger toward the decisions made by distant policymakers, emphasizing the stark reality that a lack of funding has led to irrevocable losses among Afghanistan's women and children.
This harrowing situation illustrates not only the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan but also raises wider questions about the ramifications of international aid policies in conflict-affected regions.
