Niamey – When 19-year-old Aichatou, from Birni within the Dosso area, came upon she was pregnant together with her first baby in 2023, her hope was for a easy being pregnant and protected supply. However she was reluctant to go to a well being centre. “My sisters advised me the employees don’t pay sufficient consideration to ladies throughout antenatal checkups, and that the care is commonly gradual,” she says.
Niger continues to face excessive charges of maternal and neonatal mortality. In 2020, maternal mortality was estimated at 441 deaths per 100 000 stay births. Neonatal mortality rose from 24 to 43 deaths per 1000 stay births between 2012 and 2021. In 2021, solely 43% of births have been attended by expert well being personnel, underlining the pressing have to develop entry to high quality care.
In line with the 2023 Perinatal Maternal Dying Surveillance and Response (PMDSR) report, the main direct causes of maternal dying in Niger are haemorrhage (34%), hypertensive issues (28%), infections (24%) and obstructed labour (3%). Whereas these causes are largely preventable, many ladies proceed to present beginning at dwelling, removed from well being services. That is compounded by low well being protection – simply 55.45% in 2023, in accordance with the 2023 Nationwide Well being Info System (SNIS).
In response, the Ministry of Public Well being, Inhabitants and Social Affairs, in collaboration with World Well being Organisation (WHO) within the African Area and with assist from the Muskoka Fund, launched the Built-in Important Obstetric and Neonatal Care Promotion Mission (SONNE) in 2023. The challenge, applied by the NGO Motion for Effectively-being (APBE), goals to enhance maternal and new child well being within the Dosso and Zinder areas.
The SONNE challenge is lively in 4 well being services per area, together with two built-in well being centres, a district hospital, and a mother-and-child well being centre. To develop entry, 22 maternal and neonatal well being professionals and 100 neighborhood relays have been skilled. These neighborhood relays, tasked with elevating consciousness about reproductive well being, particularly amongst ladies of child-bearing age, play an important position in encouraging antenatal visits. They go door-to-door to establish pregnant ladies and encourage them to present beginning in well being services, with expert assist.
“Earlier than the SONNE programme, many ladies gave beginning at dwelling, with out medical help,” explains Hadiza, a neighborhood relay in Dosso. “Now, I encourage them to attend common check-ups from the beginning of their being pregnant, and to ship in a well being centre. Due to awareness-raising, ladies are taking extra accountability for their very own well being, and that of their youngsters.”
On account of these neighborhood efforts, the variety of ladies utilizing maternal providers in Dosso’s intervention areas elevated by 40% between 2022 and 2023.
“Since receiving the coaching, now we have improved the standard of the care we offer. Moms now go to extra commonly, they usually’re higher knowledgeable concerning the significance of protected childbirth,” says Boubacar Halima, head of the Birni Built-in Well being Centre. «It’s a shift in mindset that’s paying off; we’re seeing extra infants born in good well being.”
WHO and its companions proceed to assist the strengthening of maternal and neonatal well being providers. Beneath the SONNE challenge, well being centres have been outfitted with important instruments for new child care, reminiscent of heating tables and kangaroo care wraps, very important for stopping hypothermia in untimely and low birth-weight infants.
The programme has additionally launched a maternal and neonatal deaths surveillance system, enabling speedy reporting, deeper understanding of causes, and the implementation of corrective actions to enhance care.
“Auditing maternal deaths helps scale back mortality by repeatedly bettering providers,” explains Dr Laouali Aissatou, head of the maternal and neonatal well being programme at WHO Niger. “With this surveillance system, WHO helps Niger observe mortality tendencies and refine well being insurance policies to avoid wasting extra lives.”
The SONNE challenge marks an important step in the direction of higher well being look after moms and newborns in Niger. By high quality care, expanded neighborhood consciousness and ongoing monitoring, the programme is already making a life-saving distinction.
At the moment, the image is altering. Aichatou, supported by Hadiza, acquired prenatal consultations, attentive follow-up and a protected supply. “Everybody listened to me,” she says. «I went to all my check-ups and it was nothing like what I had been advised. The midwives have been form and my supply went nicely. I’d advise all pregnant ladies to not give beginning at dwelling. With the best assist, you allow the well being centre feeling nice, with a wholesome child – and that is what actually issues.”