Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rachel Savage and Leonard Masauli in Kafulatira and Lilongwe

Unsafe abortions and no antenatal care: aid cuts hit women hardest in one of Africa’s poorest countries

A composite shows including a map of Malawi, the top of Trump's face, people sitting on the ground, people queuing, a woman in uniform, a breastfeeding mural, a baby, and a mother and baby
Many rural outreach programmes in Malawi have ended because of US aid cuts, including a five-year programme that was successfully cutting the number of women dying in childbirth in remote villages. Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/Alamy/AP

A blue, burgundy and white patterned wrapper hides the swell of Joanna Banda’s belly. Eight months pregnant, she has had just three of the five antenatal appointments she should have had. She is unlikely to attend her final three either, as she still has to save 3,000 kwacha (£1.28) for a bicycle to take her six miles on rutted dirt tracks to the nearest health centre when she goes into labour.

In remote villages in Malawi, pregnant women such as 22-year-old Banda, who has one child after losing her first soon after giving birth, are struggling to get the medical care they need.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.