Bringing light and life to a rural village: A midwife's story from Senegal

This story is part of Health Works, a new initiative led by the World Bank Group and partners to help countries expand access to better health care— boosting human capital, creating jobs and driving economic growth. 

The Global Financing Facility (GFF), a country-led partnership housed at the World Bank, focuses on improving health outcomes for women, children, and adolescents. The GFF supports the World Bank Group’s goal to help countries in their efforts to deliver quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030.

Ever since I was a child, I knew I wanted to work in health care. Becoming a midwife was a natural transition — a way to support women and families, especially in rural areas where trained health workers are desperately needed. I worked for a decade at a number of facilities before arriving in Fass Mambaba in 2021. From the moment I arrived, I knew I was meant to be here.

I was the village’s first midwife. I was excited to begin this chapter. But my first days were challenging in ways I hadn't anticipated.

Navigating in the dark

The health post lacked certain equipment, and worse, there was no electricity. At night, we worked by torchlight—rechargeable lamps if the sun shined that day, or by phone flashlights when it didn’t. Trust was hard to build in the dark. It caused insecurity in the patients—and in us.

Initially, a lot of the community stayed away. They didn’t believe we could provide the services they needed, so they traveled long distances to seek care elsewhere. Women told me stories of trying to make it to the nearest town while in labor, of giving birth along the roadside when rain made the dirt road impassable. They would walk 14 kilometers with a baby just to access vaccinations.

The health post was there, but it wasn’t enough.

Transformation takes hold

But things changed. The arrival of solar power transformed our services, as we could now work under proper conditions. We could finally use our neonatal unit, warm newborns during cold nights, and welcome patients in a safe and respectful environment.

As a professional, I also continued to receive more support and mentoring. Thanks to district-level trainings on labor monitoring, managing complications, and updated World Health Organization-recommended practices, I felt even more confident.

Today, we have the equipment and a well-trained team. We support deliveries, pre- and post-natal care, family planning and vaccinations. With the new health insurance program, more families can now access these services. Fass Mambaba shows that high-quality, affordable care is possible, even in the most remote parts of Senegal.

Lives saved, and the pride behind it

Being a midwife demands passion and constant vigilance. Sometimes you’re the only trained health professional for miles around. It’s demanding and exhausting at times — but rewarding beyond measure.

Take for example one of my patients, Rokhaya Ndao, who gave birth to both her children here. The first, her daughter, was born in the dark. The second, her son, was born with full light and proper equipment. She told me how much that changed everything—the safety, the comfort, the experience.

It is a matter of pride that no maternal deaths have been recorded in the health facility since reliable power was introduced.

Becoming part of the community

Word spread in the village that quality care provided by trained staff was now available right here. Families from surrounding villages began coming to us instead of risking a home birth or dangerous journeys elsewhere.

For me, Fass Mambaba has become much more than a workplace, it is my home. Three little girls in the village have been named after me, a touching and humbling symbol of the trust we have built together.

Ndeye was recruited as a midwife through the support of the Investing in Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health project (ISMEA), co-financed by the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, and the World Bank.  

The addition of health workers like Ndeye complements the Government of Senegal’s efforts to assign both nurses and midwives, termed the winning duo, to health posts – ensuring better management of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care.

ISMEA also supports health facilities by training health workers and providing solar power and medical equipment.