Mairo and her women change makers

Before Mairo Shehu and her group of change making women, known as Mama-2-Mama, met with Amiru Mohammed in 2022, more than four of the latter’s children had been delivered at home, and each of the births had complications. After the encounter with Mama-2-Mama, Amiru made sure the next birth in his home was at a health facility. He also became a champion for health facility delivery in their community, Bulkachuwa in Bauchi state. Mairo’s group is one of the 646 Mama-2-Mama groups formed by UNICEF and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to improve health outcomes for women and children in Bauchi state. 

Mairo Shehu, 33 years old, had been a volunteer health worker for about eight years, fulfilling a dream to serve her community. In 2022, she was selected to lead the Mama-2-Mama group in Bulkachuwa. The group goes from house to house to encourage women, men, and adolescents to adopt good health practices. Mairo explained that as a volunteer, she spoke with people, only when they visited the facility. “We barely had enough time to counsel people on health issues because they spent limited time at the health facility.”  

When UNICEF and GAC introduced the Mama-2-Mama initiative in Bauchi state in 2021, Mairo did not hesitate to join. She saw this as an opportunity to reach out to more women. The initiative is a community-based organized groups of women who promote positive health-seeking behaviours including uptake of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) services at the community level.  The group works to enhance women’s involvement in health decision making and to strengthen linkages between communities and health facilities.  “We visit homes to tell people about good health practices. They see me as a neighbour rather than just a health worker” she said. This creates trust that allows community members to listen and adhere to advice from the group.  

In Bauchi state, health indicators are comparatively poor. According to the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), about 83 percent of births in the state are delivered by non-skilled attendants. The state has a neonatal mortality rate of 45 out of every 1,000 live births, higher that the national rate in Nigeria and only 23.7 percent of children aged between 12-23 months have full vaccination.  

The efforts of the groups have improved the uptake of RMNCH services in the state. As at March 2023, they have referred more than 30,000 women for antenatal care and more than 8,000 for hospital delivery. “Our records show that more women are coming for antenatal, hospital delivery and postnatal care, thanks to the work of Mama-2-Mama support groups” said Sabuwa Tahir, the Gender Equality Officer at the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.  

For Mairo, the Mama-2-Mama initiative fills a gap she identified as a volunteer.  It gives her more time to help her community members shun age-long negative health practices, embrace positive health-seeking behaviours, and keep more children alive and healthy.