Millions of mothers still don’t have clean water to give birth. It’s time to end this shame

Earlier this month, campaigners from across the UK arrived in Manchester to deliver letters to the prime minister, Andy Burnham, with a simple message: no woman, no matter where she lives in the world, should have to risk her life, giving birth without clean water, decent toilets and soap to wash with.

Every two seconds around the world, a woman gives birth in a healthcare facility without these basics. For more than 16 million mothers and their newborn babies, that can mean the difference between life and death.

I joined them, carrying with me the stories of two mothers I met through my work with WaterAid in my home country of Ethiopia. Their stories reveal a stark injustice. While childbirth should be a moment of hope too many women are forced to give birth in unsafe conditions simply because clean water is unavailable.

This injustice was brought to vivid reality when I met expectant mums, Anshiya Hussien, from an displacement camp in the Oromia district of Ethiopia and Lloyid Aklilu from the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. Both women were nearing the end of their pregnancies, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their babies. Yet what they packed for hospital told two very different stories, exposing the inequalities that would shape their experience of childbirth.

Like so many of us, Lloyid carefully prepared neatly folded baby clothes, sanitary pads, soaps and creams, towels and items chosen with care to take with her to the hospital. Some items were bought in advance, others gifted by family. They reflected the quiet reassurance that clean water and good hygiene – fundamentals every mother deserves – were already waiting at the hospital.

With limited resources, Anshiya made practical, thoughtful choices by replacing sanitary pads and diapers with worn pieces of her older children’s clothing. In place of baby creams and oils, she prepared a water bucket; an informed, deliberate choice made in anticipation of a delivery where clean running water could not be guaranteed.

What one mother considered basic was a luxury for another.

Systematic failings in prioritising water, sanitation and hygiene across the public health sector have meant many births in sub-Saharan Africa are occurring in unsafe delivery rooms.

In Ethiopia, 45 per cent of healthcare facilities function without a water supply, and 60 per cent have either no or a limited level of sanitation.

Anshiya’s worries stretched to things no maternity bag could hold; the need for a safe place to give birth. That was when the imbalance truly landed and the question stopped being about a bag. Now it was a matter of inequality.

Two mothers from the same country, stepping into motherhood from entirely different realities. Both pregnant, hopeful, deserving of a dignified birth – standing at completely different starting lines, simply because of where they live and what their local hospitals can provide.

These are the realities I wanted Mr Burnham to hear when we delivered our letters to No. 10 North. Because no woman should fear losing her life in childbirth because clean water is missing. No midwife should watch a joyful moment become a tragedy triggered by an infection spread by unwashed hands.

The mothers I met back home in Ethiopia are not asking for the impossible. The are asking for the chance to give birth safely.

That is why I am standing with mothers and midwives around the world who are calling on governments globally to deliver clean water in every health facility everywhere – for every birth, every woman, every future. I hope you will join me.

Sign WaterAid’s our Time To Deliver petition

This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project