Sunday, December 06, 2009

Village birth attendants

We recently visited a village outside of the federal capital territory of Nigeria. The route was unpaved and a 4x4 pickup truck drove us in. I can't imagine how much rougher that trip would have been in a smaller car. An NGO founded by an architect and an urban planner is doing a lot of work at this village. We got a tour of a new school being built there. Apparently the Japanese embassy is also funding a lot of the new construction.

After the tour, we went into the settlements and talked to people who spoke either Hausa or English. Considering the treacherous route to the nearest hospital very few people make the trip unless they are in a dire state. Understandably women aren't able to make the trip to the hospital to deliver their children either.
Someone told us about a local birth attendant. This is a picture of where many women in the village deliver their children.

Birthing center

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