The first baby ever delivered by caesarean section at a new maternal hospital in the world's largest refugee camp was born safely last month, even as global aid cuts threaten essential health services across the sprawling settlement.
The mother, Shirin, a Rohingya refugee with three other children, went into prolonged labor. Doctors detected reduced amniotic fluid, an irregular fetal heartbeat, and rising blood pressure. They performed the emergency C-section at the new Save the Children Maternal and Child Hospital in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Both mother and baby survived.
A specialized hospital in a place where few exist
The hospital opened earlier this year in the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, which host more than one million people who fled persecution in Myanmar. More than half of the refugees are children. The facility is the first in the camps to focus entirely on maternal and neonatal health. It has 59 beds and offers emergency newborn care, antenatal services, nutrition support, and care for survivors of gender-based violence.
Donor funding cuts have forced the closure of some health centers and learning facilities in the camps. Many Rohingya women face high-risk pregnancies due to poor nutrition, limited prenatal care, underlying health conditions, and the distance or cost of reaching a clinic. The new hospital serves both refugee women and women from local host communities, where maternal and newborn death rates remain high.
Why this birth mattered locally
Shirin said the doctors and nurses made her feel safe throughout the procedure and explained to her family why the surgery was necessary. She noted the hospital was clean and hygienic. Save the Children's area director in Cox's Bazar, Golam Mostofa, called the birth a milestone. He said the hospital was built to bring specialized care closer to those who need it most and to help mothers feel supported.
Save the Children has worked in Cox's Bazar since 2012 and expanded its programs after the 2017 refugee exodus from Myanmar. Its work includes education, health, nutrition, food, water, shelter, and child protection.
A fragile step forward
The successful C-section shows what specialized care can achieve in a place where such services are rare. But the hospital opened at a time when overall aid funding is shrinking, and other health and learning facilities have already shut down. The delivery did not change the broader pressures on the camp's health system. It did, however, prove that when the right facility and staff are in place, even complicated births can have safe outcomes.
