Kandahar, Afghanistan – Walaat Bi Bi, 20, was nine months pregnant when she arrived at the maternity clinic on the outskirts of Kandahar. She was among the Afghans recently displaced from tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan – a place which she considered her lifelong home.
She arrived in distress, carrying a profound sorrow unlike many others. Her childhood was marked by tragedy, having lost her father to war and her mother during childbirth. Now, separated from her only remaining sibling across the border, she arrived with nothing but the clothes she wore and the baby she carried.
Her quiet presence belied the fear, exhaustion, and concern for safety – both for her and the child to come – evident in her eyes.
“When we assessed Walaat Bi Bi’s condition, her blood pressure was dangerously high — a sign of possible preeclampsia,” shared Taman Tokhi, the midwife at the Emergency Maternity Clinic (EMC) supported by UNFPA in partnership with the Government of the United Kingdom.
She hadn’t eaten in two days, and her body was too weak to sustain labour. We gave her food and fluids. We gave her a warm blanket and a clean space to rest. And we sat with her — not as clinicians, but as sisters — and listened.
Baby born safely
A few hours later, Walaat Bi Bi’s labour began. It was difficult, intense, and frightening, but she fought — not just for herself, but for the coming baby she saw as her only family.
“I stayed by her side throughout the delivery, coaching her through every contraction,” shared midwife Taman Tokhi. “When her baby boy was finally born, she broke down in tears, thanking us for the safe delivery.”
At the EMC, Taman and other health workers are trained to see more than symptoms of health issues among the patients who visit the facility.
“Many of the women we serve carry invisible wounds — grief, hunger, trauma. Our first act of care is always to welcome them, not just as patients, but as human beings in need of dignified care.”
In the case of Walaat Bi Bi, even though the EMC cannot admit patients overnight, the staff made sure she left with everything she needed. “We guided her on breastfeeding and postnatal care. We explained the importance of vaccines and helped her access family planning. We also referred her to partners for legal support and a safe place to stay.”
Before she left, Walaat Bi Bi smiled for the first time since arriving at the clinic to thank the EMC staff. “You gave me something I thought I would never feel again — dignity,” she said.
As a midwife, Taman was trained to manage emergencies. But she also knows that childbirth is not just a medical moment — it’s a turning point for many women, especially those who are displaced like Walaat Bi Bi. It is a moment of reckoning with loss and a leap of hope toward something new.
Our rooms are small. Our supplies are stretched thin. But we never turn a woman away — because every life matters. Every mother matters. And every child is a beginning.
With the support of UNFPA and partners like the UK Government, health facilities such as the EMC continue to function for women who need maternal healthcare the most. “For every safe birth, we see more than a newborn — we see a future that can still be healed, one safe birth at a time.”
