Victims of war: Women seek refuge to deliver their babies

AI Summary

Women refugees from Sudan, displaced by civil war, are seeking refuge in the Central African Republic where they face extremely high maternal mortality due to fragile healthcare systems worsened by international aid cuts from the UK, US, and others.

bmj;393/jun09_11/e950313/FAF1faCaitlin Kelly/APA group of Sudanese refugees wait for prenatal consultations in the Birao District Hospital in Central African Republic (CAR).The women are among the 36 414 refugees who have fled civil war at home. Having survived displacement, they face further health risks, as women in CAR are 138 times as likely to die in childbirth as in the European Union.1 The country's fragile healthcare has been further undermined by UK, US, and other countries' overseas aid cuts.