In Liberia, maternal child health units are saving lives

ZOE-GEH DISTRICT, Liberia - In eastern Liberia, Spotlight Initiative has supported government efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates by building a Maternal Child Health unit at Bahn Health Centre. Though maternal mortality has substantially reduced in recent years, in 2020, the country still had the sixth highest maternal mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data compiled by the World Health Organization.

Koro Mallah, a Maternal Child Health Supervisor, explains the life-saving importance of the unit.

"This place has had a huge impact on childbirth in our area. Women used to deliver at home, often in unsterile conditions and using unsterile material, causing a risk to both mothers and infants," she says.

One of the challenges the health centre has faced is persuading expectant mothers to come to the hospital rather than to give birth at home, where they will struggle to get help if things go wrong.

"There are still many in the community who prefer mothers to give birth at home, either because pregnant women are expected to work until the last minute or because of tradition, with the belief that it is more natural to give birth in the village," says Ms. Mallah.

Vera Gonwoe, a 21-year old expectant mother, says that if she hadn't come to the centre, she would be performing difficult physical work.  

"If I were at home, I would still be at work in the cassava fields and then cooking when I got home, which would be very trying," says Ms. Gonwoe. "The conditions here are good, and to be honest, it is much more comfortable than being at home." 

Ms. Mallah sees the early arrival of expectant mothers such as Ms. Gonwoe as critical to the centre's success.

"One of the things that we have achieved is to get women to come here well before they go into labour and to spend a few days here waiting for the delivery of their babies. In the past, we used to have women come here bleeding but by the time they got here it was too late.

"Many of the mothers who deliver here live in remote, rural locations. It is vital that they come here in their final weeks of pregnancy so they do not go into labour in a place where they can get no proper help. Rooms were built at the centre built by the Spotlight Initiative so that women at the end of their pregnancies could come and sleep here and be sure of having a roof over their heads," she explains.

"We are slowly proving to the community the importance of facility-based delivery, particularly when it
comes to our greater ability to respond to complications. I believe that thanks to this centre, we have seen a reduction in both maternal mortality and infant mortality."

Extracted from 'Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme: Stories of Change'.