Taiz fighting leaves 13,000 pregnancies without care

Fighting and blocked supply routes have left more than 13,000 pregnant women in and around Taiz, Yemen, without essential health care, while UN-supported midwives report rising miscarriages and unsafe deliveries. Only five of 27 emergency maternal and newborn facilities are partially functioning, and services have been cut off for about 147,000 women and girls of childbearing age. The United Nations Population Fund warns that displacement, shortages and insecurity are increasing risks for pregnant women in a country already burdened by high maternal mortality. Separately, a Kenyan survey found that one in three sexually active unmarried women who need family planning services are not using contraception, highlighting persistent access gaps despite long-term gains in modern contraceptive use.