Young Nurse Delivers Baby Alone in Isolated Tinghir Village Cut Off by Floods

Rabat – In a remote village nestled in the mountains of Tinghir province, a young Moroccan nurse, Ilyas Chtioui, became the unlikely lifeline for a woman in labor, stepping in alone to deliver her baby amid flooding and isolation.

The nurse, newly assigned to the Ait Hamou Ou Saïd health center, received an urgent call on Sunday. A woman in a distant hamlet had gone into labor, but roads leading to her home had disappeared under rising waters. 

No ambulance could reach her, and no doctor or midwife stood nearby.

He made the journey alone, braving the aftermath of heavy rains that turned tracks into rivers. On arrival, he found himself face-to-face with a tense emergency, miles away from the nearest equipped facility and with no support on hand.

With little to work with, he turned to his phone. Midwives from the Tinghir Provincial Hospital and the Amesmrir health center guided him through a video call. He listened closely, followed their instructions step by step, and kept his focus as the hours stretched on.

The delivery took over an hour. The room lacked medical tools, and the pressure bore down on him. But the newborn girl arrived safely, crying and healthy in his arms. The nurse remained calm and steady, his training tested far beyond the classroom.

He did not leave after the birth. With roads still blocked, he stayed at the family’s side, watching over the mother and her newborn until weather conditions allowed them to reach a nearby health facility for follow-up care.

In that quiet mountain home, with no road in sight and no help nearby, it was one young nurse, a mother, and a newborn — three strangers bound by courage, instinct, and a moment that turned into a story of quiet heroism.