South Sudan: Delivering baby on the road at 2am just another day for midwife

The Irish Examiner travelled to South Sudan to meet with some of the 1.1m refugees who have fled across the border from civil war in Sudan. Women, children and men all shared stories of pain but also of their hope for something better in their futures

Midwife Atong Jocep at Malek Miir health centre in South Sudan where she helped to deliver a baby on the road at 2am. Picture: Eugene Ikol, Concern Worldwide

Delivering a baby on the road at 2am was just another day for midwife Atong Jocep who works with her local community and refugees in a South Sudanese rural clinic.

The 37-year-old is the sole midwife at Malek Miir health centre near a busy border crossing point with neighbouring Sudan.