“I have been working as a midwife for 5 years at the Peace Hospital in N’Djamena, Chad. We are 7 midwives for 180 deliveries per month. There are not enough of us and we find ourselves doing 20 hour shifts with a maid.

We are also faced with the problem of equipment such as resuscitation equipment. We don’t have a vacuum cleaner, for example. We need to do heart massages. We don’t have a ventilation balloon either. This failure poses great risks for the baby. Sometimes I myself will pay for the pears with my own money despite my salary. Wages are not taken into account otherwise we stop being a midwife. The motivation is to save lives, and help women give life.

In 2010, when I left school, I was appointed to a rural setting. We would go to small villages to do ANC and mobilize women to give birth in hospital. Living conditions were harsh, motorcycle travel difficult, especially when you have to brave the inclement weather.

I would be ready to return to rural areas, to go to these women for appropriate care and for the well-being of the newborn. I am a midwife first and foremost and proud of it. “

©Sophie Garcia / UNICEF