When Mona began working as a midwife in her local health centre 30 years ago, she was the first in Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate.

“Back then, our area was a world away from health care,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Now head of the midwifery department at the Shahir Health Centre in Hadramout, she explained hers was an impoverished community that lacked schools, medical facilities and health workers.

“Women faced pregnancy without proper care or follow-up. The traditional midwife, with all her goodwill, was limited in resources,” added Mona. “Many births ended in complications, sometimes tragically. The city hospital was out of reach due to cost, transportation and sheer lack of awareness.”