Daykundi, Afghanistan – Nasrin was smiling when she showed up at the Family Health House (FHH) for a postnatal check up. Her mood was in stark contrast to the day she was taken to the facility to deliver her baby a few weeks back.

Nasrin would rather forget that day but she remembers it as it taught her a very important lesson – one that almost cost her and her baby’s life.

“I was eight months pregnant when I suddenly felt an overwhelming pain in my abdominal area,” narrates 28-year-old Nasrin. “I thought the pain would go away on its own. However, it only intensified each day I felt it so I decided to see a doctor in the community health centre.

The ride to the health facility was agonizing for Nasrin as they hired a tractor for their transportation. By then, she was also feeling pain in her lower back. “The road was rough and with each bump it felt like my spine broke into pieces,” she recalls. At the clinic, an ultrasound showed a fetal malpresentation and the doctor advised her to go to the District Hospital to plan for a hospital birth. 

Nasrin feared surgery and she immediately assumed that the doctor was referring her for a Caesarean-section delivery. The family ignored the doctor’s advice and went home. They decided that they will get the help of a well-known traditional birth attendant in their community when it is time for Nasrin to deliver.

That was one mistake that the whole family will never forget. On the day that Nasrin started experiencing labour pains, her screams echoed in their house.

“The pain was indescribable and my screams terrified my family,” Nasrin recalls.“Neighbours also came to help but no one could do anything. It was at that moment that the doctor's words that we ignored came back in my head.”

Unable to do anything for Nasrin, relatives merely watched and cried with her, regretting that they did not take her to the District Hospital, which was too far from their village. In that seemingly hopeless moment, someone wished that there was a doctor nearby. Hearing that, another neighbour spoke: “There is one in the village!”

The neighbour  was talking about the midwife in the FHH in Qali Lash Village, which is supported by UNFPA through funding from the Government of Canada.

Some family members were still skeptical about bringing Nasrin to the FHH but her husband did not wait any longer. 

Upon learning of Nasrin’s fetal malpresentation, the FHH midwife assured Nasrin that she would be fine. And after several minutes in the delivery room, the midwife emerged and announced: “Congratulations! You have a brave and strong boy.” 

Recalling his decision to bring Nasrin to the FHH despite some disagreement with relatives, Nasrin’s husband says, “She could have died if we did not act immediately. If that happened, we would only be able to regret our decision but we would not be able to bring her back,” her husband explains.

Text by Ehsanullah Popal