BBC Investigates Afghan Mother’s Death After Reduction U.S.

When Shahnaz entered birth, her husband Abdul called a taxi to deliver them to a single medical facility available to them.

“She was a lot,” he says.

In 20 minutes, the clinic was riding in the village of Shesh-Paul in the northeastern province of Badadshan in Afghanistan. It was there that two older children were born.

Abdul was sitting next to Shahnaz, comforting her as they rode on gravel footsteps to get help.

“But when we got to the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn’t know he closed,” he said, his face crumbled with agony.

Warning: Readers can find some details in this article.

Clinic in Shesh -Paul is one of the more than 400 medical institutions that closed in Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries, after Trump’s administration reduced almost all help from the US to the country earlier this year, a sharp and sharp step after the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

A one -story design with four small numbers, white paint, hovers from the walls, the clinic of the field made usaid posters everywhere, with information and guidance for pregnant women and new mothers.

It is not much like a lot, but in the mountainous and relentless locality of Badadshans, where the lack of access was the main reason for the historically high mortality of the mother, the clinic was a critical rescue line, part of a wider program implemented during the stay by the government that supports the US government to reduce the death of mother and newborn.

He had a midwife, which helped about 25-30 supplies a month. It had a supply of medicines and injections and also provided basic medical services.

Other medical institutions are just too far from the village of Abdullah, and it was not without risk that Shahnaz traveled on uneven roads. Abdullah also had no money to pay for a longer journey – rental cost 1000 Afghan ($ 14.65; £ 12.70), approximately a quarter of his monthly income as a baton. So they decided to return home.

“But the child was coming, and we had to stop on the road,” Abdul said.

Shahnaz took his girl to the car. Soon she died, a lot of bleeding. A few hours later, before she can be called, their baby also died.

“I cried and shouted. My wife and baby could be saved when the polyclinic was open,” Abdul said. “We had a difficult life, but we lived together. I was always happy when it was with her.”

He even has no photos of Shahnaz to hold on.

Mother and baby would not survive if they were treated at the clinic, but without that they had no chance, emphasizing the undisputed influence of US assistance in Afghanistan.

For decades, America has been the largest donor in Afghanistan, and in 2024, US funds accounted for a staggering 43% of all help coming to the country.

The Trump administration justified its withdrawal, stating that “there are reliable and long -standing problems that funding benefits terrorist groups, including … Taliban” running the country. The US Government also added this They had messages in which This is at least $ 11 million were “siphons or enriched the Taliban”.

The report that the US Department of State referred was made by a special inspector for reconstruction of Afghanistan (Sigar). It states that 10.9 million dollars of taxpayers in the United States were paid to partners controlled by the Taliban, USAID partners in “taxes, fees, duties and utilities”.

The Taliban government denies the money goes.

“This statement is untrue. The assistance is provided by the UN, and through them in NGOs in the provinces. They determine who needs help and they are distributing it. The government is not involved,” said Sukhail Shahin, head of the Taliban political service in Doha.

The Taliban government’s policy, especially its restrictions on women, the most harsh in the world, meant that after four years, it was still not recognized by the majority of the world. This is also a key reason that donors are increasingly coming from the country.

The United States insists that no one has died of reducing assistance. Shahnaz and her child’s death are nowhere to be recorded. None of them are innumerable.

The BBC recorded at least half a dozen first -hand, devastating accounts in areas where USAID clinics closed.

Next to the grave of the village of Shahna, which gathered around us, they pointed to two other graves. They told us that both were women who died in childbirth over the last four months – Dalada Run and Maugar. Their babies survived.

Not far from the cemetery, we met Khan Mohammad, whose wife, 36-year-old hum, died in childbirth five months ago. Their boy Safila died three days later.

“When she became pregnant, she would go to the clinic for checking. But she closed in the middle of her pregnancy. She had a lot of pain and blood loss during delivery,” said Khan Mohammad. “My kids are always sad. Nobody can give them love for the mother. I miss her every day. We had a sweet and loving life together.”

Approximately in a five -hour riding from a shesh field, in Kogan, another village where the USAID clinic closed, closed, Ahmad Khan, a father who suffered from grief, Maidam showed us a room in his dirt and clay house where she died by giving birth to Karim.

“If the clinic was opened, it may have survived. And even if she died, we wouldn’t regret knowing that the doctors had struggled. Now we were with regret and pain. America did it to us,” he said, tears.

In another house in several lanes, Bahisa tells how to give birth at home. Her three more children were born at the Kauga clinic.

“I was so scared. We had an midwife, medicine and injections in the clinic. I had nothing or painkillers at home. It was an unbearable pain. I felt life leaves my body. I was numb,” she said.

Her girl, nicknamed Fakih, died three days after birth.

The closure of the polyclinics in the villages led to the surge of patients in the pregnancy department of the main regional hospital in the capital of Fizabad province.

Getting to it, through the insidious landscape of Badadshana is risky. We were shown a terrible photo of a newborn baby, which was taken on the way to Fizabad, and the neck whose cut before he got to the hospital.

We visited the hospital back in 2022, and while it was stretched, the scenes we saw this time were unprecedented.

There were three women in each bed. Imagine that I went to childbirth, or just survived a miscarriage, and not even having a bed for yourself to lie.

This is what Zuhra Shevan, who survived the miscarriage, had to survive.

“I have a lot of bleeding and did not even have a seat. It was very difficult. As long as the bed is free, the woman may die,” she said.

Dr. Shafik Hamdar, director of the hospital, said: “We have 120 beds in the hospital. Now we have recognized 300 to 305.”

While the patient’s swelling load, the hospital also faced sharp cuts in its funding.

“Three years ago, our annual budget amounted to $ 80,000. We now have $ 25,000,” said D -Romdard.

By August this year, as many deaths from the mother were recorded as it was throughout the last year. This means that at this speed, the mother’s mortality rate can increase by 50% more than last year.

In the last four months, the death of newborns has already increased by about a third, compared to the beginning of the year.

Razi Hanifi, the main midwife of the hospital, says she is exhausted. “I have been working over the last 20 years. This year, the most difficult due to overpopulation, resources deficit and lack of prepared staff,” she said.

But there is no reinforcement of the Taliban government restrictions on women. Three years ago, all higher education, including medical education, was banned for women. Less than a year ago, in December 2024, training for obstetricians and nurses was also prohibited.

In a restrained place we met two students who went through the training when it was closed. They did not want them to be identified by fearing repression.

Anya (the name changed) said that they were both postgraduate studies at the university when the Taliban took over. When they were closed in December 2022, they started training in the obstetric and seat, as it was the only way to get education and work.

“When it was also forbidden, I became depression. I cried day and night and I couldn’t eat. This is a painful situation,” she said.

Karishma (called changed) said: “There is already a lack of obstetricians and nurses in Afghanistan. Without additional preparation, the woman will be forced to give birth at home, which is at risk.”

We asked the Taliban Government Sukhil Shakhin how they could justify the prohibitions that effectively hold back the health for half the population.

“This is our internal question. These are our problems, how to deal with them, how to consider them, how to make decisions is something internal. It depends on the leadership. Based on the needs of society, they will decide,” he said.

With their access to medical services, he is very limited by the wave of devastating strokes, for women of Afghanistan, their right to health and life itself is serious.

Additional reporting, photo

The image of the upper shows Abdullah with his daughter and son in Shesh Paul.