Baylor College of Medicine has performed substantive work in The Gambia to instruct frontline health workers on maternal and child health through its “Training of Trainers” and GOALL (Gambian Obstetrics Anesthesia Learning and Leadership) programs. With the ninth-highest maternal mortality rate, access to quality health care for women of reproductive age in The Gambia is deficient.

Forty-five percent of women between the ages of 15-49 had problems accessing healthcare including having money to pay for care, getting permission to go, distance to a health facility, and not wanting to go alone.

Due to low access to care for pregnant women, Baylor School of Medicine created national in-person and virtual training to help local healthcare providers prevent obstetric hemorrhage, breech deliveries, and other obstetric emergencies. In The Gambia, like most sub-Saharan countries, pregnant women attend less than two antenatal care (ANC) visits where four or more visits are recommended. Wealth, education, and residential areas contribute to increased access to ANC visits. Researchers have noted that The Gambia like Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda show deficiencies in ANC visits due to socioeconomic inequalities. Baylor’s training programs have set out to improve these maternal health outcomes.

Photo: Baylor School of Medicine