The earthquakes that occurred on February 6 directly affected the lives of more than 9 million people living in the region. Among them, there are approximately 130,000 pregnant women. Almost 6 months have passed since the earthquakes, and with the financial support of the British Embassy Ankara and in collaboration with its partners, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Türkiye continues to work to support pregnant and newly-delivered women affected by the earthquake to provide them access to urgent health and care needs.

HATAY, TÜRKİYE - The earthquakes that hit Kahramanmaraş on February 6 caused serious damage in 11 provinces, disrupting the lives of more than 9 million people. Half of this number are women and girls, including approximately 130,000 pregnant women. While there are still disruptions in access to basic needs in the earthquake-affected areas, pregnant and newly-delivered women are also still in need of access to urgent health and care services.

With the support of its partners and donors, the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA has been on the ground since day and working to provide health and protection services to earthquake survivors, especially women and girls. One of those supports came from the British Embassy Ankara. With their financial support, 1850 maternity kits were delivered to the earthquake survivors in Şanlıurfa and Hatay provinces to meet the urgent health and hygiene needs of pregnant women, new mothers and their newborns.

The maternity kits İnclude essential hygiene and healthcare products such as diapers, baby blankets, newborn clothes, underwear, soap, and postpartum pads to meet the most needs of them and their babies. They have been delivered to pregnant women and new mothers with the support of the Association of Young Approaches in Health (SGYD), Association for Solidarity with Refugees and Migrants (SGDD-ASAM), Harran University, Urfa Metropolitan Municipality, KAMER Foundation, Medicines Du Monde and Public Health Professionals Association. 

UNFPA-supported service units also provide services in family planning counseling, prenatal and postnatal care, safe delivery support, and referral to emergency health services to earthquake survivors besides distributing kits.

Fatma*, who started to receive support from UNFPA-supported service units during her pregnancy, states that the kits have answered many of her needs; "I came to your center to benefit from the services and I was very well received. Many needs of me and my baby are in this bag. After the earthquake, our access to these materials was very limited."

19-year-old Ayşe*, who is experiencing her first pregnancy, tells that her life has changed after the earthquake and that she has been experiencing problems in accessing health services. She says that she got the support and information she needed about her health through the prenatal counseling and family planning services she has received. She says that the maternity kit was very useful since it includes many of her needs that she had difficulty in accessing.

Zehra*, who is a mother of 8 children, says that they are now feeling safer with the support they have received, especially as they have been struggling to meet the needs of their children recently; "We have never received any help for our children until today. However, my husband and I were starting to struggle to meet their needs. You reached us immediately; I did not expect such quick support. It made me very happy."

In coordination with the public institutions, with the support of its donors and the cooperation of its partners, UNFPA Türkiye continues to work to increase access to life-saving emergency health and protection services of women and girls affected by the earthquake.

*Names have been changed for privacy.