Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque

Focus on FONDATION POUR UNE MATERNITÉ SANS RISQUE

Of the 260,000 maternal deaths resulting from pregnancy and childbirth in 2023, 70% occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization. While the tragic deaths of new mothers — or their newborns — are often preventable with the proper medical care, many women in remote villages lack access to vital health services.

For women facing these dangers in Senegal, the mobile medical teams of Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque (Foundation for Risk-Free Maternity) are crucial to ensure that pregnant women can receive local access to life-saving medical care instead of taking an hours-long journey via cart to the nearest medical facility. Moreover, in many places, existing medical clinics are underfunded or lack midwives that can ensure proper care for women before or during their pregnancy and birth.

The Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque mobile medical teams consist of midwives, a driver and a 4x4 vehicle. They visit isolated villages, far from any healthcare infrastructure, every month to provide high-quality maternity care — not only saving lives, but improving outcomes for mothers and their children. "In some [populations in Africa] it is said that a pregnant woman is a woman who goes to war. The danger is the same,” said Dr. Patrick Dewavrin, who, along with Dr. Gilles Degois, founded Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque in 2000.

"This collaboration has allowed pregnant women and infants living in isolated villages to receive attentive and effective care, leading to a remarkable 50% drop in infant mortality."

Dr. Patrick Dewavrin
Co-founder, Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque

Four mobile medical teams now reach 87 villages in eastern Senegal. As the number of women, children and villages supported by this program has grown, Friends of Fondation de France has served as an important connection to U.S.-based donors who understand the importance of this work.

One such donor is the Geneviève McMillan-Reba Stewart Foundation, with its support spearheaded by foundation board member Catherine Gobet-Lalanne. Gobet-Lalanne met Dewavrin in 2008 and was impressed by how his work fit with McMillan’s passions for Africa and for the rights of women.

"Friends of Fondation de France has enabled Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque to forge a magnificent 10-year collaboration with the Connecticut-based McMillan Stewart Foundation. This collaboration has allowed pregnant women and infants living in isolated villages to receive attentive and effective care, leading to a remarkable 50% drop in infant mortality," said Dr. Dewavrin.

The mobile team is designed to be a scalable model, and Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque is aiming to expand the teams, allowing them to reach more villages across other areas of Senegal. At less than $4 per person, this program shows remarkable impact.

In addition to the mobile medical units, donations made through Friends of Fondation de France support Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque’s other life-changing programs in Senegal, such as maternity wards, accommodations for mothers, and a range of other critical health services.

Creating remarkable health outcomes in Dawady

From the small town of Dawady, located an hour off a main road, the mobile clinic reaches 40 villages that would otherwise only be served by one registered nurse, responsible for 10,000 residents up to 30 miles away.

During the mobile team visit, patients can receive care at a small health post supported by Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque. Two community workers from the village run the health post, preparing for consultations, providing health education sessions, and also diagnosing and treating malaria.

All medical staff of the mobile clinics are Senegalese, and in each village, they train women in the local community to encourage others to have their pregnancies monitored and to space out their births. An important focus of their work is screening for malnutrition in young children, and maternal hypertension — a leading cause of maternal mortality in Africa — the foundation continues to make profound advancements in improving health outcomes.

Just two years after the Dawady mobile medical clinic began, Fondation pour une Maternité Sans Risque reported significant results, including a 50% reduction in infant mortality rate and a significant reduction in maternal mortality. The program has also achieved a 100% increase in the number of fully immunized children and a 200% increase in the number of women receiving family planning.