Training matrons - Tarbiyya Tatali

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The matrons are women who help with deliveries. They are trusted by the population, including women. Most of the time, they haven’t been trained at all.

Training matrons is a public health priority

In Niger, the health of women and children is of great concern. Many women continue to die in childbirth.

Our survey on health cabins in the Dogon Doutchi area revealed that the training of matrons is a priority for both health.prefessionals and population.

Aims of the training

This training will help combat maternal and child mortality, so that matrons know how to detect high-risk pregnancies and deliveries going wrong.

Through training on contraception, they will be able to inform women of modern methods of controlling birth..

Organization of training

Two-week training sessions are organized in Dogondooutchi. On completing her training, each matron is given a kit including equipment (wood case, towel, storm lantern, torch, thread, kettle, mat, bucket, draw sheet) and consumables (gloves, razor blades, thread, soap, antiseptics, cotton wool, compresses, betadine (1 bottle) , argyrol.

In total, 73 matrons have been trained from 2008 to 2012.

Training from 2008 to 2012

In 2008 we have trained a group of 12 matrons of the town of Dankassari, as we have not received the funding that we had requested to train 150 matrons from the department of Dogon. Doutchi. This action is in partnership with the association “Fredie la vie au Niger”.

In 2008-2010, 20 new matrons were trained. 10 in the Dankassari community thanks to the decentralized Cesson-Dankassari cooperation, 10 in the Dogon-Doutchi rural villages thanks to a new donation from the charity ‘Fredie la vie au Niger ’.

Early in 2011, 16 new matrons from villages in the Soukoukoutan and Dogonkiria communities were trained thanks to funding from Rennes City Council.

Early in 2012, the Rennes City Council and the charity ‘Fredie la vie au Niger’ funded the training of, another 25 matrons from villages associated to Dankassari, Dogon Doutchi Nord, Doumega Guecheme, Kiéché, Koré Mai Roua, Lido, Matankari, Tibiri.

Thanks to the Cesson-Dankassari cooperation, some of the matrons can use an ox-drawn cart in case of difficult deliveries.

An assessment of our Matron Training Scheme was published in our booklet ‘Life Giving in Niger’ on May 13^th 2012.

It happened that in some villages old matrons had been replaced by younger ones who had never benefited from any training.

A further two-week training session took place for ten matrons of Dankassari in december 2017 and another, also for ten matrons of Dankassari, in July 2020. The twenty matrons were also fitted out with kits

Twenty new matrons were trained in Dankassari, in October 2021 and July 2022. They asked to be equipped with a professional gown, which is yellow in color.

Providing carts and oxen.

Some of the matrons have an ox-drawn cart, allowing them to evacuate patients particularly in case of difficult deliveries; it also improves their income.

The action was initiated by the Decentralised Cesson-Dankassari Cooperation..
Thirty-nine matrons were also similarly equipped from 2011 to 2020 (mostly thanks to the matrons themselves repaying the carts.)

Training of matrons, 2008