Saturday was an exciting day for the midwifery graduates at the School of Midwifery in Makeni, Sierra Leone, and marked an important milestone in the West African nation’s progress toward improving maternal and child health services. The World Needs Midwives I attended the ceremony to present the Direct Relief Midwife Kits to the new graduates. It was a great celebration—and at
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Aberdeen Women’s Center, Freetown, April 21 We hope that Act Three never arrives. We work hard in Acts One and Two – training and equipping midwives and improving emergency obstetric care – so that mothers can experience a safe pregnancy and the health of their newborn. But at present time, we cannot draw the curtain after only two acts, and
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Lindsey Pollaczek Medical Research Center, Tonkolili and Bo Districts, April 19-20 About 15 percent of all deliveries will be complicated and will require emergency obstetric care. Many complicated cases can be managed at a lower level facility if the skilled birth attendant is trained in the management of basic emergency cases and has the tools they need to do their
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By Lindsey Pollaczek, Program Officer Sierra Leone has one of the highest reported maternal death rates in the world. In 2005, the maternal mortality ratio was 2,100 deaths per 100,000 live births and a woman’s lifetime risk of dying due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth was 1 in 8. Long distances to health facilities, the cost of health services,
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