Help Pregnant Moms Give Birth Safely in Disasters

"I saw the building collapse, floor by floor. You could hear people screaming and calling for help," said Roberto, who survived two catastrophic earthquakes—magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5—that struck central-northern Venezuela on June 24.

Roberto had just returned home when the ground gave way. "Bricks and pieces of debris started falling on me. I took off running, saw other people, and shouted, 'Run, run!' At that very moment, the entire building came crashing down," he told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.

"My partner was trapped under the rubble. She was pinned down from her waist downward, and the neighbors immediately began helping to get her out. It took us about two hours to free her."

Roberto's partner, Dayra, survived her injuries. His father and young sister did not. Almost 5,000 people have been killed and over 16,000 injured, with thousands more still unaccounted for.

$50 can provide 10 Emergency Birth Kits, including a bar of soap, clear plastic sheet, razor blade, umbilical cord tie, cloth, and latex gloves to help deliver babies safely in crisis situations.

 Hope Amid Turmoil

Roberto and Dayra are now sheltering at a temporary camp set up at the José María Vargas sports complex, along with more than 1,000 other displaced people. There, Dayra has been receiving prenatal care from a UNFPA-supported clinic—and got an unexpected surprise.

"While we were here, on July 2, my father's birthday, we found out through my partner's medical examinations that she is pregnant," said Roberto.

"Nothing happened to the baby, even after she fell from the sixth floor of a 12-story building and was trapped from the waist down under so much rubble. I consider it a true miracle."

UNFPA is providing sexual and reproductive health services across three shelters in Caracas, La Guaira, and Miranda, including prenatal consultations, contraceptive distribution, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and referrals to hospitals for obstetric emergencies.

A gift of $400 can equip a midwife and maternity ward with the medicines and supplies they need to support 50 women through safe deliveries—even in the most challenging humanitarian settings.

The Support Networks Holding Communities Together

Among the volunteers helping fellow survivors is Yoseys, who is also sheltering at the sports complex with her husband and son. "In the tent I'm staying in, twelve families live together. The number varies—some have fifteen, others twenty, and some have as many as twenty-five families," she said.

She described her tent as "one family," with women leading efforts to help each other recover. "So many women keep moving forward despite the pain, even after losing their homes, even after losing a family member."

More than 20,000 people have sought refuge in over 100 temporary shelters across the affected region, where overcrowding and limited services are heightening protection risks for women and girls. Yoseys worries the crisis's toll will stretch on. "There are mothers here who have lost everything," she said. "Now they don't have a home, they have nothing, but they're alive."

UNFPA continues mobilizing shipments of essential reproductive health supplies and medical equipment to Venezuela, running clinics across displacement sites as response shifts toward recovery.

$150 can provide supplies, medications, and equipment to a rural health clinic to help safely manage obstetric emergencies.