The Perils of Childbirth in Afghanistan

Birth Attendant
Hanifa, a midwife, holds the tool kit that she would bring on her rounds if she could only find the materials to fill it. Though she says things have improved — in the past, she used flints for cutting and piles of earth for soaking up blood — it is still hard for her to find plastic gloves, razors and needles in Badakhshan.

• How Can the Incidence of Maternal Mortality be Reduced?