Bardo’s Maternal Healthcare Project

In the absence of state support, the women of Bardo have taken control of their own health through a project of mutual aid. Halima Adamu describes their project this way:

"We had experienced enough death and hardship as a result of childbirth because we don't have access to [an] emergency car and nearest hospital. So I got the women together, so we could talk about a project that we could focus on toward solving our problem. We all agreed to save some amount up to 1,000 Naira [each?] to buy [our] own emergency car."

In a few months they raised about 1,000,000 Naira ($3,000) to purchase their own emergency car. They called the car "Haihuwa Lafiya" (Safe motherhood delivery). This collective effort means that mothers and their infants can now access healthcare at birth and before, something that simply was not possible before.

Yunus Mohammad, the car driver describes this way: "As the emergency driver, I do this job with a lot of pride. I am volunteering as a driver and I am always happy to help in any way I can because I see it as a duty. So everyone in Bardo village has my number as the emergency contact, when they call on me, I drop whatever I am doing, in whatever time of the day it is and I run to their aid."

The pregnant women family also agreed to pay $3 to use the car for fuel and maintenance while a small fee for the driver too for his kindness and effort. More than 50,000 women die every year in Nigeria because of complications in childbirth, but many hope that this model can help all the women who suffer because maternal and infant care is too hard for them to reach.

Contributor: Idris Bilyaminu Ndasadu’Lau