My wife died giving birth after Trump cut funding to our clinic
When Shahnaz went into labour, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them.
"She was in a lot pain," he says.
A 20-minute drive away, the clinic was in Shesh Pol village in Afghanistan's north-eastern Badakhshan province. It was where their two older children were born.
Abdul sat next to Shahnaz comforting her as they drove over gravel tracks to reach help.
"But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn't know it had shut down," he said, his face crumpling with agony.
Warning: Readers may find some details in this article distressing.
The clinic in Shesh Pol is one of more than 400 medical facilities that closed down in Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, after the Trump administration cut nearly all US aid to the country earlier this year, in a drastic and abrupt move following the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
A single-storey structure with four small rooms, white paint peeling off its walls, the Shesh Pol clinic has USAID posters tacked up everywhere with information and guidance for pregnant women and new mothers.
It doesn't look like much but in Badakhshan's mountainous, unforgiving terrain, where a lack of access has been a major reason for historically high maternal mortality rates, the clinic was a critical lifeline, part of a wider programme implemented during the tenure of the US-backed government in the country, to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.
It had a trained midwife who assisted around 25-30 deliveries every month. It had a stock of medicines and injections, and it also provided basic healthcare services.
Other medical facilities are simply too far from Abdul's village, and it was not without risk for Shahnaz to travel on bumpy roads. Abdul also didn't have money to pay for a longer journey - renting the taxi cost 1,000 Afghani ($14.65; £12.70), roughly a quarter of his monthly income as a labourer. So they decided to return home.
"But the baby was coming and we had to stop by the side of the road," Abdul said.
Shahnaz delivered their baby girl in the car. Shortly after, she died, bleeding profusely. A few hours later, before she could be named, their baby also died.
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