First moments: A celebration of motherhood
01 May 2018

This May, we celebrate those who give the gift of life: mothers and midwives

First moments: A celebration of motherhood
This month, we celebrate the beauty and strength of mothers, and the midwives who care for them. Below we have collected images of the journey to motherhood, an experience of joy, peril, courage, and – above all – love.
© UNFPA/Doan Bao Chau
Anticipation
In Geokdepe, Turkmenistan, an expectant mother attends a prenatal check-up. Throughout the world, pregnancy is a time of anticipation, but it is also a time of risk. Antenatal care is essential for keeping mothers safe.
© UNFPA Turkmenistan/Julie Pudlowski
Myrtha, 26, travels over an hour to visit the midwives at a UNFPA-supported maternity centre in Marigot, Haiti. The facility – known locally as a “smile clinic” – offers a quality of care that puts her at ease. "I'm not scared to become a mother. I'm excited," she said.
© UNFPA/Elena Heatherwick
Access to skilled care can also give women a sneak peek of their little one. A woman undergoes a sonogram in Savannakhet, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
© UNFPA/Micka Perier
Anxiety
But pregnancy can also be a time of anxiety – particularly for women facing poverty, poor health or insecurity. Noor spent much of her pregnancy in a refugee camp in Greece. “In Syria, you have your mother, your mother-in-law, to look after you and tell you what to expect. They show you how to take care of your baby. Here, there is no one to help me.”
Lynsey Addario, for Time Magazine
Khamkong, seven months pregnant, knows this is a dangerous time. But she cannot rest when there is farm work to be done. “I do feel very nervous because it is my first baby, and in the village where I am from, one woman died,” she said.
© UNFPA/Ruth Carr
Pregnancy increases women’s vulnerability. They can experience higher risk of malnutrition and illness. In Bor, South Sudan, Bol Madine Alier spent the eighth month of her pregnancy being treated for malaria, a condition that can cause serious complications.
© UNFPA South Sudan/Bruno Feder
For at-risk women, the final weeks of waiting may be especially difficult. Neth Theak stays in a UNFPA-supported “waiting house” close to a modern maternity ward. Women facing complications receive free accommodation there.
© Nicolas Axelrod/Ruom for UNFPA Cambodia
Labour
Finally, months of patience culminate in the drama of labour. In this Haiti maternity ward, a woman prays through the pain of her contractions.
© UNFPA/Elena Heatherwick
These critical moments are especially dangerous for women without access to a health facility. Sabina Acharya, 18, went into labour in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Fortunately, she was visiting a UNFPA-supported mobile health camp at the time.
© UNFPA Nepal
Every day, 830 women die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. For every woman who dies, an estimated 20 to 30 encounter injuries, infections or disabilities. In Ethiopia, midwife Fasika Maru discovers Anguach Abebaw’s fetus is in a dangerous position.
© UNFPA/Mulugeta Ayene
New life
Babies enter the world in wealth and in poverty, in peace and in conflict. No matter the circumstance, nothing matches the beauty and promise of new life. A baby is born at a protection camp in Juba, South Sudan, attended by a midwife.
© UNFPA South Sudan/Arlene Calaguian Alano
If they are lucky, their first moments are met with joy and tenderness. In Kratie, Cambodia, midwives wrap a warm blanket around a newborn.
© Nicolas Axelrod/Ruom for UNFPA
This baby’s entry into the world was more frenzied. Her mother, Ruqayya, needed an emergency C-section when she went into labour at a displacement camp in northern Syria. “I thought I might die before the baby came into the world,” Ruqayya later said.
© UNFPA Syria
These first moments are perilous for newborns, as well. Midwives successfully resuscitate a baby born in South Sudan. With sufficient training and support, midwives could avert an estimated two thirds of all maternal and newborn deaths.
© UNFPA South Sudan/Bruno Feder
Motherhood
When all goes right, the challenges are worth it. Syrian refugee Sanaa meets her new son.
Lynsey Addario for Time
New motherhood is exhilarating – and daunting. Both mother and baby are highly vulnerable in the post-natal period, and midwifery care remains as vital as ever. Bendu, 21, takes her newborn daughter from a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Sinje Health Centre in Liberia.
© UNFPA/Elena Heatherwick
The journey to motherhood rarely goes as expected. Refugee Yvonne Mboi had no idea she was carrying twins until she delivered in a hospital in Angola. “I am very happy to now have two healthy twins,” she said.
© UNFPA/Tiril Skarstein
After this, life will never be the same. Following a long delivery, Victoria encourages her baby, Ahmad, to breastfeed.
© Alixandra Fazzina | NOOR for UNFPA

News

Rural midwives help save mothers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

calendar_today10 April 2018

Out's pregnancy is assessed by a midwife during an antenatal home visit. © UNFPA/Ruth Carr
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News

From midwife to MP - Advancing the rights of women in the Comoros

calendar_today04 April 2018

MP Hadjira Oumouri attends the Comorian marathon on International Women’s Day. Her shirt says, "I am more than a mother. I am also a woman with ambition." © UNFPA Comoros/Nasser Youssouf
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News

Perilous conditions for pregnant women displaced in northern Syria

calendar_today19 March 2018

A UNFPA-supported mobile team performs an ultrasound for a pregnant woman displaced from Afrin. © UNFPA Syria/Sufian Abdulmouty
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News

Displaced by crisis, South Sudan midwifery students focus on saving mothers

calendar_today09 February 2018

Nyomon Lilian attends to a mother and her newborn at the Juba Teaching Hospital. © UNFPA South Sudan
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News

In Pakistan, empowering midwives to empower women

calendar_today20 November 2017

Midwives attend to clients in Sindh Province. Midwifery training programmes are empowering women and saving lives. © UNFPA Pakistan
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News

For most vulnerable Nigerian women, high rates of traumatic birth injury

calendar_today16 November 2017

Women and girls are waiting for a fistula repair at Maiduguri’s State Specialist Hospital © Anne Wittenberg/UNFPA
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News

No place too far: Midwives deployed to far-flung villages in Myanmar

calendar_today29 July 2016

Midwife Daw Aye Myint visits the home of a new mother for a postpartum check-up in the remote region of Magway. © UNFPA Myanmar
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News

Stay and deliver: Saving lives under gunfire in Juba

calendar_today26 July 2016

A mother and baby in Bentiu, South Sudan, in 2015. When violence erupted days before the fifth anniversary of South Sudan's independence, heroic midwives stood their ground to save lives. © UNFPA/Amadou Baraze Elh Nakaka
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Slideshow

Changing the perspective: Fighting to end female genital mutilation in Upper Egypt

calendar_today18 July 2016

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Hoda Hamed welcomes people into her home in Upper Egypt. She is a leader in convincing people to abandon female genital mutilation (FGM). © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

Listening to people from her community, Ms. Hamed mentally works out the best approach to persuade them. © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

“Married women who underwent FGM suffer a lot,” she told UNFPA. “FGM really affects negatively the intimate relationship between husbands and wives.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

“There must be a way to raise the awareness of those young girls and boys who soon will become mothers and fathers.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

She has successfully convinced villagers to reject FGM. But the practice remains widespread, with the highest rates in rural and impoverished areas. © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

“Ignorance and illiteracy are the main reasons for the continuation of a horrible practice like FGM.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

“Unfortunately, still there are traditional birth attendants, and even doctors, who perform FGM.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

“The only way to protect my daughter from being cut was to involve my husband. It’s very important for men to know the harmful physical and psychological consequences of FGM.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab

Throughout Egypt, support for FGM remains high. But Ms. Hamed is not deterred. “There is always hope! And it is never too late to change one’s mind.” © UNFPA Egypt/Sima Diab