The Independent is proud to present Hard Labour, a new documentary by award-winning journalist Bel Trew, exploring the devastating impact of conflict and collapsing aid systems on maternal healthcare around the world.
Released alongside a major new Independent dispatch examining the worsening maternal and child health crisis in Africa, the documentary comes as years of progress in reducing preventable deaths during pregnancy and childbirth are under growing threat.
Recent aid reductions have cut off lifesaving services for many. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), across just 19 of the humanitarian countries where they operate, more than 11 million people have lost access to essential sexual and reproductive health and protection services, while almost 1,100 health facilities and mobile clinics have been forced to close and nearly 6,000 frontline health workers, including midwives, have lost their jobs.
Hard Labour is available to watch on The Independent’s website and YouTube channel. A public screening will take place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on 15 September, with further details to be announced.
To mark the release of Hard Labour, The Independent is shining a light on the lifesaving work of the UNFPA to raise awareness of the urgent maternal health needs of millions of women around the world. You can help save the life of a mother and baby by donating £8 for an emergency birth kit via the link below: https://www.unfpa.org/donate/EmergencyBirthKit/uk
Documentary synopsis
For centuries, pregnancy and childbirth were among the world’s greatest dangers. Over the past 25 years, major advances in healthcare helped reduce maternal deaths by 40 per cent. But that progress is now under threat.
Unprecedented international aid cuts, combined with the highest levels of conflict seen in a generation, are reversing years of hard-won gains. In this powerful new documentary, Bel Trew travels to some of the world’s most dangerous places for pregnancy and childbirth, meeting mothers, babies and frontline healthcare workers as they confront the devastating
consequences of conflict, poverty and collapsing healthcare systems.
Screening information
A special screening of the documentary will take place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on 15 September.
Bel Trew, Chief International Correspondent at The Independent, said: “Over the last 25 years of global efforts, the world managed to bring maternal mortality rates down by 40 per cent. We were on track to end preventable deaths in childbirth. Until now.
“For this film we went to the worst places on earth to give birth – where the nightmare mix of unprecedented aid cuts and unprecedented levels of conflict have put the lives of mothers and their babies on the line. We hope this is a wakeup call to all.”
The Independent is also shining a light on the lifesaving work of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to raise awareness of the urgent maternal health needs of millions of women around the world.
UNFPA works with partners in more than 150 countries to provide access to a range of sexual and reproductive health services – including in dozens of humanitarian settings. As a global leader in maternal and newborn health, UNFPA trains midwives, and supplies hospitals with lifesaving maternal health medicines and supplies, including emergency birth kits. Making motherhood safer is at the core of UNFPA’s mandate and is a human rights imperative.
“No woman should die while giving life. Yet, every two minutes a woman dies due to pregnancy or childbirth, mostly in fragile and conflict-affected settings,” said Monica Ferro, Director of UNFPA’s London Representation Office.
“The good news is we know how to address this daily, global emergency. We need political will and investments in solutions that work – including universal access to midwives, which could prevent nearly two thirds of maternal and newborn deaths.”
