Local Volunteers Lead the Way in Closing Taraba's Maternal Healthcare Gap

Jacquelyn Alvarado, a certified nurse midwife with the Texas A&M Rural and Community Health Institute, travels across Texas to teach rural hospital staff how to deliver babies. Using a mannequin, she runs simulations covering both routine and complicated deliveries for ER nurses, paramedics, and other non-obstetrical staff who may be the only help available when a rural patient goes into labor.

The Bauchi State Impact Project aims to improve maternal and newborn health by training 100 people to become skilled birth attendants. Despite infrastructure challenges, the Project not only provides work and purpose to those trained, but also helps make childbirth safer by providing much-needed care.

In an effort to address maternal mortality rates and overall maternal health conditions, groups of midwives are hosting community dialogue sessions that serve as educational opportunities for preventing danger. Maternal and infant mortality rates have already begun to decrease, and midwives also provide support beyond education, giving mothers food and other supplies as needed.

The Mamacare Foundation has trained over 860 traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in hygiene, safe delivery practices, danger-sign recognition, and timely referral systems over the past decade to improve maternal care in the region. The program pairs each TBA with a supervising midwife, creating a collaborative bridge between traditional and modern maternal care. The training has increased referrals from TBAs to clinics by 40%, and district hospitals report fewer emergency cases arriving in critical condition since the Foundation has formed.

Traditional birth attendants provide maternal care to women in hard to reach areas. With government help through the Mama2Mama program, several TBAs are undergoing training to provide safer, more effective maternal care.

The Mentor Mother Program in Siaya County, Kenya, trains women living with HIV to provide peer support, counseling, and treatment assistance to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Mentor mothers serve as the link between communities and health facilities, tracking appointments, conducting home visits, running support groups and encouraging male partner testing. With the program’s help, the region’s transmission rate dropped from 21% in 2015 to 4.3% in 2022.

In 2025, Bauchi State launched the Impact Project to address Nigeria's maternal health crisis by deploying 100 Skilled Birth Attendants across 20 Local Government Areas, alongside free delivery kits and regular salary payments to increase access to professional childbirth care.

The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council implemented a comprehensive national family planning program that offers integrated reproductive health services delivered through multiple channels including local clinics, mobile outreach units, community health workers, and youth-friendly centers. The program provides access to contraceptives, counseling, and peer education to address maternal mortality and unplanned pregnancy rates. Over the past decade, maternal mortality has dropped by 78%, and unintended pregnancies have also significantly decreased.

In displacement camps where medical care is scarce, community midwives are working against the odds to provide safe OB-GYN care and deliveries. An individual midwife can see anywhere from 18 to 50 women a month who struggle to access basic maternal health services.

Over 2,000 community health workers are distributing rapid diagnostic tests to pregnant women to help diagnose and treat malaria. The health workers also refer patients to further treatment as needed. In 2022 alone, they treated over 130,000 people.