Wassadou – Looking back on one year of maternity services

08/07/2014

The Wassadou maternity facility in Senegal is seeing steadily increasing visits and contributes to improving maternal and infant health in the region.

Since opening in 2005, the Maison Médicale Pierre Fabre (MMPF) in Wassadou continues to expand.

Wassadou – Retour sur un an de service maternité

In the medical desert of the Tambacounda region, the MMPF medical centre is a boon for the local population (22,500 people). In addition to offering general and dental consultations, it houses an analysis laboratory and a pharmacy. It also has a maternity ward that is seeing ever-increasing demand.

A 74% increase in consultations
In an area where fewer than one in three women have skilled attendance at delivery*, the results generated by the maternity facility are encouraging indeed. Between 2012 and 2013, visits there increased by 74%, from 149 to 260 monthly consultations. The trend continued in the first half of 2014, with a 92% increase in prenatal consultations, 87% in postnatal consultations and 50% in deliveries over the first half of 2013. What’s more, the maternity ward assisted nearly 300 women with family planning sessions in 2013.

Continuous education
Such results are due to a major investment in education through information dissemination and awareness-raising. The objective is to remind women of the importance of four prenatal consultations, childbirth in a medical environment and postnatal care in order to avoid any complications. The objective is also to emphasise the importance of family planning to prevent early or late pregnancies and to space out births over time. In this effort, the medical team often goes out into the bush and relies on community volunteers to get the message across in the most remote villages, and to combat cultural impediments.

A team of specialists
Women can feel confident about choosing this ward: a competent, reinforced team awaits them at the facility. The MMPF has a certified midwife, an assistant midwife and a matron (head nurse), supported by a state nurse. Not to mention the physician, should there be any complications. In equipment, a new ultrasound scanner was purchased in 2013.

*Source: PU-AMI website/according to the last Demographic and Health and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (DHS / MICS) (2010/2011) conducted by the National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD) in Senegal.