For Afghan midwife, saving women’s lives is a lifelong passion

Feroza Mushtari was barely a teenager – just 12 or 13 years old – when a desperate knock on the front door changed her life.

Darkness was falling over Kabul on that pre-winter day two decades ago when her mother answered the door. Outside was an older woman who had brought a younger relative, heavily pregnant and in need of urgent help.

The archconservative Islamist Taliban then ruled Afghanistan: Was a man available, as required, who could escort them to the hospital?

The pregnant woman “was twisting in pain and screaming,” and within minutes went into labor and began to bleed, a shocking scene for the young Afghan girl, Ms. Mushtari recalls today.

There were no men around, so the girl came up with a bold plan. She would disguise herself as a

Transforming maternal healthBundles of books‘We didn’t invite you’Pillar of empowerment