Global Reach
Senegal
Senegal (the Republic of Senegal) is located on the westernmost point of Africa. Approximately 41% of Senegal’s population of 17.3 million is under the age of 15 years old.
According to FP2030, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate for all women 15 to 49 in Senegal is 20.5%. UNFPA reports that the maternal mortality rate is 315 deaths per 100,000 live births and 25.5% of pregnant people delivered without a skilled attendant in 2020.
Our Work in Senegal
The EngenderHealth-led MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project works with partners in 16 districts across the Dakar, Diourbel, and Thiès regions of Senegal. A total of 4.9 million people live in the supported areas. The project’s work in Senegal focuses on improving access to and quality of maternal, newborn, and child health, voluntary family planning, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. We do this work by strengthening and expanding the capacity of local institutions, organizations, and providers to provide high-quality, evidence-based information and services through training, support for sustainable clinical mentoring and supervision, development of training materials, and provision of necessary equipment. Additionally, MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics partners with Senegal’s National Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Infant, and Adolescent Health Technical Working Group to encourage the promotion and adoption of promising global and local high-impact practices for obstetric surgeries.
In 2022, the MOMENTUM project trained midwives in postpartum family planning, focusing on providing implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs). Then, provided all trainees’ home facilities with postpartum IUD kits to enable them to effectively apply the skills they learned during training. The project also trained gynecologists from public and private facilities in Thiès, with all home facilities receiving IUD insertion and removal kits. In addition, MOMENTUM Safe Surgery collaborated to train providers on counseling survivors of gender-based violence. The training focused on preparing maternity service providers to anticipate the risks of potential complications of childbirth for women who have experienced female genital mutilation or cutting, domestic violence, or early marriage. Difficult births and delayed care can result in an increased number of cesarean sections and the risk of obstetric or iatrogenic fistulas. The project trained Bajenu Gox (“neighborhood godmothers” or experienced women respected in their community) on preventing obstetric fistula, identifying pregnant women at risk of complications, and referring them to services.
MOMENTUM Safe Surgery also helped to adapt the World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety Checklist to improve surgical monitoring and clinical reviews and help referral hospitals better manage follow-up systems for safe obstetric care.
The MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project works with partners in Senegal to strengthen safe surgery by scaling up proven practices, supporting safe and appropriate cesarean delivery; peripartum hysterectomy; as well as expanding access to high-quality surgical services for voluntary, long-acting and permanent methods of contraception. As part of the larger MOMENTUM suite, our aim is to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities with the ultimate goal of accelerating the reduction of maternal, newborn, and child death and disability.
