🔶A mother at the intersection of inflation; from million-toman diapers to the removal of women’s health allocations

A report by Omid Baring

The birth of a baby is a hopeful sign and the start of a new season in the lives of parents. But in Iran today, under the heavy weight of runaway inflation, the relentless collapse of the value of money, and long-term, grinding sanctions, this sweet event is tied to deep and constant anxiety.

Although official policies have long insisted on encouraging childbearing, the reality of people’s lives and official statistics point to Iranians’ growing reluctance to have children. In the face of market ruthlessness and backbreaking prices, even traditional and comforting beliefs such as “God Himself provides for [everyone]” have faded and no longer stand a chance against reality.

Behind the cold mask of economic tables and charts, it is these families—and above all mothers—who are bending under the weight of this crisis. Women who, in the absence of effective support umbrellas, are forced every day to make painful choices between meeting their newborns’ basic needs and protecting their own physical and mental health.