Triplets died before our eyes

"We had to watch two of the babies die before our eyes."

Dr. Hasan Babikir of El-Obeid Maternity Hospital in Sudan's North Kordofan state recalled the moment he lost two premature triplets — not from lack of skill, but from lack of intensive care beds. The hospital, the only referral facility in western Sudan, is now absorbing more than 230,000 displaced people who have fled fighting in neighboring South Kordofan.

According to testimony published by UNFPA, the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency, the shortage of medicines and equipment has passed crisis level.

Buying surgical gloves at the market

"There's a severe shortage of antibiotics, surgical sutures, and gloves," Dr. Babikir told UNFPA. "This forces us to buy them from the market at very high prices."

Conditions inside the delivery rooms are equally dire. Midwife Laila Sarfo said there are no tables to place newborns on and no adequate infection control equipment. Two emergency operating rooms are currently out of service. "Emergency patients arrive while all rooms are occupied, sometimes resulting in the loss of the mother or fetus," Dr. Babikir said.

A neonatal intensive care unit that opened in early 2026 has only four beds — always full.

Medical staff paying out of their own pockets

Staff are stretched beyond their limits. Senior midwife Insaf said her salary barely covers transportation to work. "When women arrive without the means to purchase delivery supplies, we find ourselves paying for these items out of our own pockets."

Yet she and her colleagues refuse to stop. "Some midwives are working 24-hour shifts to meet the overwhelming demand," she said.

The city of El-Obeid has also come under frequent drone attacks targeting health facilities, killing and injuring both staff and patients.

Three years of civil war dismantling Sudan's health system

Sudan's healthcare collapse did not happen overnight.

In April 2023, armed conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum. What began as a local confrontation rapidly spread to Darfur, Kordofan, Gezira, and beyond.

As the war dragged on, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure were systematically destroyed. Medical supply chains collapsed, healthcare workers fled, and the remaining facilities were overwhelmed. Sexual violence became a defining feature of the conflict — kidnappings, child marriage, and organized assault have been widely documented, with survivors unable to access safe spaces or care.

The UN now estimates that more than 33 million people — roughly 70 percent of Sudan's population — are in acute need of humanitarian assistance.

The limits of international aid

UNFPA has installed solar power systems to address blackouts, rehabilitated delivery rooms, and deployed skilled health workers for emergency obstetric and neonatal services. Mobile health units operate in displacement camps in South Kordofan.

But these efforts are vastly outpaced by the scale of the crisis. Access restrictions, funding gaps, and the threat of drone attacks continue to hamper international relief operations.

What comes next [AI Analysis]

A swift resolution to the Sudan conflict appears unlikely. Peace negotiations between the SAF and RSF have repeatedly collapsed, and international political will for sustained mediation remains limited.

El-Obeid's maternity hospital is a microcosm of Sudan's broader healthcare implosion. If conditions persist, maternal and neonatal mortality rates are likely to climb further.

In the near term, emergency airlifts of medicines and medical supplies — alongside diplomatic pressure to halt attacks on health facilities — represent the most urgent levers available to the international community. Without a significant escalation of both political and financial commitment, Sudan's humanitarian crisis is likely to deepen for years to come.