Clean Water Could Save Millions: The Fight for Safe Childbirth in Africa”

By Daily News Reporter 

In maternity wards across sub-Saharan Africa, the miracle of birth is too often shadowed by a hidden danger: the absence of clean water, soap, and basic sanitation. A new report by WaterAid, Born Without Water, exposes the shocking reality that millions of mothers, newborns, and midwives face each day.

And according to the reports it shows that across ten countries—including Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia—76% of births occur in “unsafe” delivery rooms. These are wards lacking the essentials for hygiene: 65% of facilities do not meet proper cleaning standards, 66% lack handwashing facilities and soap, and 78% have no decent toilets.

The human cost is devastating. Maternal sepsis, a life-threatening infection linked to unhygienic conditions, affects one in nine mothers in sub-Saharan Africa. Every day, 36 women die from infections that could have been prevented with clean water and basic hygiene. African mothers are nearly 150 times more likely to die from sepsis than women in Western Europe or North America.

Yankho Mataya, WaterAid Zambia’s country director, stated,'

"No woman should fear losing her life in childbirth because clean water is missing. No midwife should watch a joyful moment turn into tragedy because of an infection that clean hands could have prevented."

So far WaterAid partnered with White Ribbon Alliance to capture authentic voices from women and health workers in Uganda and Malawi. Over 1,800 participants highlighted a clear priority: 80% of women’s demands focused on three essentials—clean water, functional handwashing facilities, and dignified toilets.

Women described water outages, long queues at unsafe boreholes, and having to use nearby rivers or bushes after giving birth. Midwives often had to care for newborns with unwashed hands or unclean equipment, highlighting the daily risks in maternity wards.

And Dr. Helen Pankhurst, women’s rights activist and report foreword author, emphasized:

"Behind the statistics are real women and health workers facing enormous risks that can be avoided. Governments and world leaders have a chance to hear women’s demands and recognize the simple, affordable solution in front of them."

The Born Without Water report launched WaterAid’s global Time to Deliver campaign, which brought together 16 countries in a collective call for urgent action. The campaign urged governments and international institutions to prioritize gender-responsive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in all healthcare facilities.

Experts note that simple, low-cost interventions—clean water, safe toilets, and handwashing facilities—could prevent 10 million cases of maternal sepsis and save over 8,500 lives annually, all at less than $1 per person. Beyond health, these investments promote dignity, gender equality, and social development.

WaterAid has so far invited the public to support the campaign by signing a global petition to world leaders ahead of the UN Water Conference in December. 

Mataya also added that "women across the world are calling for change. Together, we can ensure leaders listen and act. It’s time to deliver clean water for every woman, at every birth."

To this end 36 mothers die daily from maternal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa, 76% of births occur in facilities lacking basic hygiene essentials, from these cases  they is need to Invest in WASH could halve maternal and newborn deaths.

“Clean Water Could Save Millions: The Fight for Safe Childbirth in Africa”