« During my life, I have done the regions. I started with Maradi where I was very young, 20 years old and the only midwife. Women had to be sought out and encouraged to use the services. They didn’t come because they just didn’t know there was a midwife. I was trained at the time by a Chinese team in suction cup and newborn resuscitation.

Today I am the director of a maternity hospital. As a director, I make sure that we do on-site training sessions for new providers, midwives who are arriving, in particular on EmONCs and AMTSL – active management of the third phase of childbirth, as well as management of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia, but also essential newborn care (resuscitation, newborn care).

We make a strong contribution to reducing mortality. We are part of the Maternity Death Audit Team. We have always managed obstetric cases resulting in timely and timely referrals which save lives in the event of complications.

I have a lot of experience in remote areas. I participated in a national survey of SONUs and thus visited 45 health services in rural areas. What struck me the most was the lack of qualified personnel in these areas (doctors, nurses and midwives). Childbirths are taken care of by health workers or performed by trainees and CHWs. We recommend to the government a redeployment of midwives.”

©Sophie Garcia / UNICEF