‘The Taliban know they need us’: the Afghan hospitals run by women

Zeba Ghorband, already a mother of five, cradles her newborn baby boy – born prematurely but healthy at seven months – as midwife Mariam Mohammedi runs checks. Photograph: Stefanie Glinski/The Guardian

Few places in Afghanistan are run by women. Public life and business are male-dominated and, since the Taliban’s takeover, even more women have vanished from view. While some say they are stuck in conservative societal structures that rarely let them take control, others fear draconian new rules, the travel and education bans.

But behind the walls of several female-run hospitals in Kabul, a different reality exists: here, women save lives on a daily basis, offer marriage advice, care for and adopt abandoned children. Many of the doctors and nurses working here have raised children and often remain their family’s sole financial supporters. And they all agree: things work better when women run the show.