Life begins on the run

Seated next to her makeshift shelter, Amani wraps her youngest child in a coloureful toub - a traditional Sudanese women garment, to protect her from the cold, carefully covering the her head. She doesn’t have much to wrap the newborn in, having left most of her belongings behind when she recently fled the clashes in Al Fasher. 

Just a few months ago, Amani had been looking forward to her baby’s birth. Together with her family, she anxiously waited for the arrival of the new addition and the celebration that would follow.

But as the days got closer, fighting in her neighbourhood escalated and engulfed the entire village. 

“We hid under the beds throughout the day and only came out on the evening,” she recalled.

This went on for days. With no end in sight, the family had to flee. 
From Al Fasher, they moved to Hirja for a night before continuing to Zamzam. But the situation there was even worse.

With each move, Amani became more exhausted – and every new condition posed greater risks to her life and the unborn baby.

“There was no food, no water and no one to help us.”

The situation would later worsen when the rain began. For days, the family survived on rainwater and bread from strangers.

Amani worried constantly about her baby. Was she eating enough? Was the baby still healthy? All she wanted was to give birth safely and to a healthy child. 

But before they could settle in the oasis where they had briefly found shelter, fighting closed in again. And by now, her baby was almost due. 

With no hospital in sight and no health workers around, Amani was forced to deliver in unsafe and high- risky conditions. 

Delivering on the road

Amani is one in thousands of women in Sudan who cannot access maternal and newborn health services during pregnancy and delivery during the ongoing conflict. With health systems severely disrupted, unsafe deliveries are increasing- putting the lives of both newborns and mothers at grave risk.

As her family fled between Sharga and Tawila, Amani went into labour. Her baby arrived by the roadside with support from her mother and nearby residents.

"I gave birth under a tree, lying on a small mat,” she said. 

Too weak to carry her newborn or continue the journey, Amani rested for a week before finally reaching Tawila with her family. She remembers being fed only a mixture of water and flour to support her recovery from childbirth. 

For mothers like Amani, postnatal care during emergencies is nearly impossible to access—yet it is critical for survival and long-term recovery. In Sudan, 70 per cent of health facilities are non-functional. In safer areas, the remaining facilities are overwhelmed by waves of displaced people, while mobile communities are left struggling to access critical care.

Today, Amani and her family join thousands of displaced people in Tawila who have fled violence in Al Fasher, Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and other IDP camps in North Darfur.

To respond to the crisis, UNICEF has activated mobile clinics to reach vulnerable and displaced communities. Through 14 Primary Health Care centres and two mobile clinics, critical services- including immunization, maternal care, and nutrition- are provided to those in need.