First Cries in Total Darkness
In Bentiu’s Yoangang clinic, 26-year-old Nyakal Juai delivered her son by the glow of a single torch, its beam juggled between the midwife’s hands.
The safe cry of the newborn masked urgent realities: no electricity, no water, and no delivery bed in the brand-new ward supported by the UN Population Fund.
Essential Services Still Elusive
Health workers scramble nightly, guiding births through phone flashlights or small torches, then borrowing buckets from neighbours to scrub blood-stained floors.
Juan Roye of Health Link South Sudan says such shortages ‘directly contribute to maternal deaths in Bentiu’, a warning echoed across Unity State.
National Statistics Paint a Stark Picture
South Sudan records 1,150 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, among the world’s highest. Fewer than one in five deliveries is overseen by a trained attendant.
With just 40 percent of health facilities functioning, almost nine in ten women give birth at home, usually without power, running water, or sterile tools.
Floods Deepen Isolation
Frequent flooding isolates entire counties, turning dirt tracks into rivers. Acting officer Samuel Gatgei Liir recalls newborns who died when mothers could not reach care after eight-hour treks.
One mother suffering postpartum haemorrhage was carried on a wooden stretcher until rising waters blocked the way; she did not survive the delay.
Young Mothers, Long Journeys
Seventeen-year-old Mary walked two days from Kaljak to reach Nhialdiu clinic after early marriage halted her schooling. She hopes to resume classes once the baby is born.
Assistance and Ambition
UNFPA targets 35 percent skilled birth attendance by 2030, estimating that expanded services could avert more than 5,500 maternal deaths.
A three-year, 4.5-million-dollar programme backed by Korea’s KOICA began in December 2024, aiming to boost maternal health and protection in crisis-hit Unity State.
Path Forward for Safer Deliveries
Provincial official Michael Nyuon Gat welcomes the gains yet warns that some villages remain reachable only by canoe, prolonging emergency response times.
Residents and clinicians alike insist that sustainable power, clean water, and all-weather roads are essential if the next generation is to enter life under electric light rather than candle shadows.