Professional midwives who lost their jobs due to aid cuts in Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya are voluntarily filling a critical gap by helping women during pregnancy and childbirth. A team of 30 midwives offers free home-based health monitoring, counseling, and referrals to women in the camps and surrounding settlements, where access to health facilities is limited. Most of these midwives previously worked at health facilities supported by humanitarian organizations until budget cuts in August 2024. Fatumo Sidow, the group coordinator, stated they chose to continue serving their communities as volunteers. The midwives regularly encounter women suffering from malnutrition and undiagnosed conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and anemia, which pose serious risks to both mother and unborn child. Fatumo reported that since June 2025, the volunteer midwives have assisted approximately 200 pregnant women. Among those helped is Warsan Muse Jama, 35, who resides in Hagadera refugee camp. She was unaware of her anemia and malnutrition until Fatumo arranged for tests. ‘The first time she took me to hospital, my blood count was seven [dangerously low]. She advised me to eat eggs, vegetables, increase my food intake, use spinach and kale, drink more fluids, and avoid stress. She kept taking me back to the hospital. Later I was told my blood count rose to nine. She helped me very well and I delivered safely. Even when I was sick and vomiting, she came to my house. She brought her notebook and kept following up on me from that time. I received very good support,’ Warsan said. When Warsan went into labor, she contacted Fatumo. ‘When I called, she came immediately. She was the only one who accompanied me to the hospital. As we were entering the gate, the baby came out. She delivered the baby for me inside the vehicle. She had her gloves and equipment with her. I was then taken to the hospital, where she helped settle me in the bed and arranged for my relatives to join me before leaving,’ Warsan said. During a previous delivery in 2023, she nearly died due to delayed medical care, as she had believed hospital visits were only necessary once labor pains began. Warsan’s family has lived as refugees since 2010, after leaving rural areas in Somalia’s Lower Juba region when drought destroyed their livestock. They survive on income from a small shop run by her husband, selling charcoal and vegetables in the camp. The midwives also assist women living outside the camps, where health facilities are even more difficult to access. Habibo Ahmed Tajir, who lives six kilometers from Hagadera camp and is nine months pregnant, said regular hospital visits are challenging, but a midwife visits her home for monitoring. ‘Now that I am in my ninth month, I have decided to give birth in hospital, and God willing, my wish will be fulfilled. The midwife advised me to avoid stress and told me that if the ambulance delays, I should call her and she would contact the hospital. I am now confident that I will deliver in hospital,’ Habibo said. This will be her first hospital delivery as she previously believed hospitals would be too expensive. Guided by a midwife, she has registered at a health facility in preparation for her delivery due in January. Her family is poor, relying on $30 cash aid received every two months. ‘The food we buy runs out halfway through the month. We have no support from inside or outside. I look for loans and sometimes I get them, sometimes I don’t. When I do get a loan, repaying it is another struggle. When food runs out and we cannot get loans, we go to sleep hungry,’ she said. The midwives themselves face significant economic hardship after losing their jobs at health facilities supported by International Rescue Committee (IRC). Dahiro Malin Abdi, a senior midwife with 10 years of experience, explained that their decision to continue as volunteers stems from responsibility and professional commitment. ‘Our purpose is that these are our people. We were trained before, and if we get an organization to support us, that would be good. If not, we will continue serving our community. This is work we believe in and value deeply,’ Dahiro stated. Many maternal deaths in the camps occur at home and remain unrecorded. Lack of awareness represents one of the biggest challenges. ‘We discourage mothers from giving birth at home. Even when a woman insists on delivering at home, we persuade her and take her to a health facility. We provide education and awareness. Every month, we assist 10 to 15 pregnant women,’ Dahiro said proudly.