Technical assistance training in family planning for Senegalese midwives

is proposing a project to expand the current Senegalese Family Health Project by strengthening the role of midwives in the delivery of comprehensive maternal and child health care, including family planning, at public and private clinics. This paper reports on an in-country assessment of the technical assistance and training needs of the Senegalese National Association of Midwives (ANSFS), which will implement the proposed project. Major findings are that: the demand for family planning has been increased by the Family Health Project, but midwives are not trained to deliver these services; the ANSFS provides little or no support to midwife activities because of budgetary and institutional constraints; and private clinics have few resources to devote to family planning. Key recommendations are to establish a national headquarters for the ANSFS; establish a comprehensive family planning clinical training program for midwives, both pre-service through the national midwifery school and in-service at the proposed ANSFS headquarters; and fund supplies and equipment for maternal and child health care and family planning services at private clinics.