Twenty-one-year-old Ma Than Kyi is on her first pregnancy. She is excited but the environment in which she goes through the special phase in her life is not very ideal - she and her family are among the people displaced by a series of disasters in Rakhine State and are now living in an evacuation camp.

The Sat Yoe Kya camp in Sittwe Township is now a temporary refuge to more than 3,000 people displaced by the 2014 conflicts in Rakhine State and also by the 2015 floods and cyclone. Most of them no longer have homes to go back to so they will be in the camp for a while.

For pregnant women in the camp like Ma Than Kyi, they have more to worry about than just the living condition in the camp. Another life depends on them so access to reproductive health services is critical to their well-being. 

Fortunately for Ma Than Kyi who is seven months pregnant, a regular visit to the doctor is something she is able to do amidst the situation. Through a partnership between UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the Myanmar Medical Association (MMA), reproductive health services are made available at the Sat Yoe Kya camp. 

Services provided at the reproductive health clinic in the camp include antenatal care, postnatal care, newborn health, family planning, treatment and management of sexually transmitted infections and health education sessions. 

“For normal deliveries, there are midwives who attend to the mothers. High-risk deliveries are referred to hospitals. We also have mobile clinics around the camp to reach more women who need our services”, says Dr. Tun Lin Kyaw of the MMA. 

Although women in the camp generally prefer to deliver at home assisted by a midwife, the reproductive health clinic has a delivery room, in case someone opts to give birth there. There are two midwives serving the camp’s population. 

Ma Than Kyi is satisfied with the care she receives from the reproductive health clinic. In fact, she goes there for check up every week now that she’s in her last trimester of pregnancy. Aside from the medical services, she has also received a clean delivery kit and has attended health education sessions in the clinic. 

“Through the health education sessions, I became more conscious about taking care of myself during my pregnancy, including observing proper hygiene and watching out for signs and symptoms of pregnancy complications,” Ma Thin Kyi says. 

There are a 13 camps in Rakhine State hosting families displaced by both conflict and natural disasters. Through the Government and partners such as the MMA, UNFPA delivers life-saving reproductive health and protection services to women affected conflict and natural disasters.