Saving Mothers' Lives in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Thanks to generous funds from globalgiving donors, along with match-funding from our partners, BRAC has made substantial strides toward improving maternal health in West Africa. In the last year, BRAC trained a total of 984 community health workers who have provided pre- and post-natal care to more than 38,000 women in Sierra Leone and Liberia. In addition to providing these services, BRAC staff conducted reproductive, maternal and child health information sessions with village health committees as well as with mother's groups in local communities. This grassroots approach aims to educate communities about maternal health to reduce child and maternal mortality rates in both countires.

While we can see the effectiveness of our programs in communities where we operate, there are still tens of thousands of mothers in LIberia and Sierra Leone who have little or no access to healthcare. To be truly effective, we need to operate at scale. Luckily this is a lesson BRAC knows well. To make a big impact in the lives of mothers all over Liberia, we need to continue expanding the program, recruiting more community health promoters and supporting and strengthening the existing health system.

To add an additional challenge, the Ebola epidemic has hit both Liberia and Sierra Leone in areas where our programs operate. This deadly virus puts a severe strain on an already over-burdened, under-resourced health system. BRAC is working to arm our community health promoters with tools and resources they need to educate their communities about how to prevent, diagnose, and treat Ebola.