Saving Mothers' Lives in Sierra Leone and Liberia

BRAC's child and maternal health programs in Liberia and Sierra Leone are slowly taking stock and starting to rebuild. I spoke today with Ezra Lubemwa, the program manager for BRAC Liberia's health programs based in Monrovia who gave me an update. Due to travel restrictions and bans on public gatherings, the maternal health program was forced to shut down from August until December. The program has started again in earnest, with a 'no touching' policy for Community Health Promoters (CHP's) when they're visiting expectant mothers.

Ezra also mentioned that during the outbreak, CHP's and program assistants played a role in educating their communities about how Ebola was spread and distributed supplies (chlorine, hand sanitizer, plastic gloves, etc.) to those in need.

Now, the program adjusting to the country's changes and looking forward. CHP's are beginning to do follow-up with pregnant mothers they were visiting before the outbreak. Much of their job is often refering mothers and children to local clinics if health challenges arise. A number of clinics were forced to shutdown or were taken over by Ebola patients during the outbreak. To find out which ones are operating, CHP's taking stock of clinics in their communities so they can refer their patients. Many women travel far to get to clinics so this recovery will take some time. That being said, they are playing a key role in educating mothers and children on where they can go if they have health issues, Ebola related or not.

I asked Ezra what role mothers played during the outbreak. He explained that BRAC trained over 100 women to become birth attendants and they all helped mothers have safe deliveries in their communities when clinics were closed.

In February, Ezra explained that the program will restart its community outreach and teenage pregnancy initiatives, incorporating Ebola awareness into both. Public gatherings are still restricted to 7-8 people so the reach will be small at first. He is hopeful that it won't be long before their operations return to normal.

Thank you for supporting the courageous work of these women who are often risking their lives to help mothers and children in their communities.