Interview: Pregnant refugees fleeing disaster at risk of dying in childbirth: author of UNFPA report

Giving birth safely is not always possible, especially for women and girls whose lives have been uprooted by conflict or disaster, the author of a newly released UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report told Xinhua in a written interview.

"To a pregnant woman who is about to deliver, access to the services of a midwife or an obstetrician is just as vital to her survival as food, water and shelter," said Richard Kollodge, the lead author of the State of World Population 2015 which was released here Thursday.

However, accessing such vital health services can be extremely difficult, said Kollodge, a senior editorial adviser at UNFPA.

The refugees are in a hurry to cross the country, therefore few have the time to go to a local hospital or clinic for a check-up or to obtain medicines, he said, adding that this is why mobile gynecological clinics have been set up out at train stations.

"A mobile gynecological clinic parks outside the train stations at the southern and northern borders, providing free and fast walk-in services," he said.

Popular services at these clinics include ultrasounds, treatments for infections or nutritional supplements, said Kollodge.

Syrian refugees fleeing through Europe are not the only mothers who struggle to give birth safely. In fact, he said, three out of every five maternal deaths occur in fragile states or humanitarian settings.

"Every day, 507 women and adolescent girls die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth in situations like war or after a natural disaster," he said.

This means that if the world wants to reduce pregnancy and childbirth related deaths by 2030 -- as promised by UN member states in the Sustainable Development Goals -- humanitarian services must be expanded to include pregnancy-related care.

The Sustainable Development Goals, approved by world leaders in September, are a blueprint for global development efforts for the next 15 years.

Yet often these health services become an afterthought at times when people may not know where their next meal will come from or where they will sleep that night.

"Whether a woman lives or dies in a crisis often depends on whether she can access basic sexual and reproductive health services," said Kollodge. "Women's health can no longer be treated as an afterthought in humanitarian assistance."

The report makes the case for providing such critical services, including family planning, in humanitarian assistance, said Kollodge.

Family planning services can help families delay or prevent pregnancy. Although women may wish to delay or prevent pregnancy during times of crises, it is precisely during disaster situations that such services become disrupted, he added.

In other cases, gender inequality, which may be exacerbated during times of crisis, means women may have little say in the decision of getting pregnant.

"Women are often more vulnerable and disadvantaged, so when a crisis strikes, a bad situation can in a moment become worse, compounding or exacerbating inequalities and making it even more difficult for a woman to exercise her reproductive rights," he added.

In its latest the State of World Population Report, entitled Shelter from the Storm,UNFPA said the world needs to set a new agenda for humanitarian response that will ensure that millions of people, especially women and adolescents, are not left behind.

Out of the 100 million people in need of humanitarian assistance around the world today, an estimated 26 million of them are women and adolescent girls in their childbearing years, the report said. Enditem