The Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Kano State chapter, in partnership with the International Budget Partnership (IBP), has conducted a capacity-building workshop to train maternal and child healthcare champions.
This was aimed at improving access to primary healthcare services and reducing maternal deaths across communities.
The training, held at City Center Hotel, Farm Center, on Tuesday brought together women champions and traditional birth attendants drawn from selected primary healthcare facilities across three senatorial districts in Kano State.
The initiative focuses on strengthening community-level support systems that help pregnant women seek timely care and use primary healthcare centers.
Speaking at the workshop, the Amira of FOMWAN Kano State, Habiba Abubakar, said the program is designed to redirect maternal care from unsafe home practices to health facilities while also building accountability around primary healthcare delivery.
“This training of women champions and traditional birth attendants is to teach them the importance of antenatal care, hospital delivery, immunization, and accountability in primary healthcare.
“We want them to encourage women in their communities to come to the PHCs because that is the nearest and first level of care before secondary and tertiary hospitals,” she said.
The Amira stressed that home deliveries remain a major risk factor for maternal complications.
“We always encourage TBAs not to take deliveries at home anymore. They are supposed to escort women to the hospital.
“Many of the post-delivery complications and bleeding we see come from unsafe home births,” she explained.
FOMWAN–IBP project consultant Salisu Yusuf said the long-term goal is to reduce maternal mortality by building a grassroots network of informed female advocates who can act quickly within their communities.
“The expectation is to see how we are going to crash maternal mortality by engaging grassroots women as champions,” Yusuf said.
He added that whenever there is an issue related to maternal health, they will visit homes, counsel families, give guidance, and where necessary, they refer women to facilities and follow up on feedback.
He noted that the workshop used participatory methods that allowed women to share field experiences.
“Some of them have been on this journey for years, others are just joining. Their level of participation was impressive. It shows they are ready to do the right thing in their communities,” he said.
Ramatu Jibrin a facilitator at the event linked the training to broader state efforts to reverse poor maternal health indicators.
She said Kano is among the leading states in maternal mortality, which is very worrisome.
“The state is working to crash these numbers through the its various projects on crashing maternal mortality.
“We expect that the champions will perform excellently so as to reduce the burden of MNCH mortality in the state,” she added.
Participants said the training strengthened their field approach.
A participant from Bichi LGA, Habiba Yahuza, said, “When we see a woman in labor, we accompany her to the clinic for safe delivery.
“If she has no money, we contact the Village authorities and Ward Development Committee (WDC) to support.
“We also mobilize women for antenatal visits and routine immunization and advise them not to sell their mosquito nets but use them,” she explained.
Another participant from Ungogo LGA, Shamsiya Ahmad, said the sessions improved her communication skills and collaboration with health officials.
She stressed that the program has opened her eyes on how to better protect mothers and children at community level.
