The Stopgap Midwife
By Hawa Talla and Lindsey Freeze
The Stopgap Midwife: that’s what her Senegalese colleagues affectionately started calling her for her willingness to work on all fronts. Like many health workers in Africa and other regions where human resources are scarce, 47-year-old midwife Céline Nataye Sow is spread thin, working beyond traditional boundaries to fill in gaps where she can. But here, as in other countries where health systems are strained, “stopgap” means much more than the phrase might conjure.
Céline, manages the Sampathe Health Post, in Thiès, Senegal (50 miles from Dakar), which serves 16,100 people. One of only a few midwives in Senegal working as a health post manager, she usually sees 40 to 45 clients per day, while serving as a constant mentor to a busy staff of 19. And under Céline’s leadership, the post has undergone major renovations and reduced waiting times. The health post now receives twice as many clients as it did before she came in 2008.
