The Church of Jesus Christ Implements Maternal and Newborn Care Project in Sierra Leone

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has initiated the implementation of a Maternal and Newborn Care project in Sierra Leone.  On 8-13 January 2024, the Church worked together with Project Hope, and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health to launch the health program which will focus on training midwives and other health care personnel in critical neonatal and postnatal care to ensure the health of the mother and improve infant survival rates.

Directing the implementation were Dr Fritjof Langeland and Sister Shirley Langeland, project managers for the maternal and newborn care project for LDS Charities.  They were accompanied by Dr Mark Sheffield and Dr JoAnn Abegglen.  Representing the Church was President Abibu Charles of the Kossoh Town Sierra Leone Stake.

The training, which was held at the Waterloo Local Council Building, began Monday 8 January and the first two days focused on helping mothers survive bleeding after birth.  Members of the media and individuals from the ministry of health attended the first two days and were able to get a first-hand view of the Bleeding after Birth prevention module. 

The goal for this training was for nurses to gain correct information and skills to prevent
unnecessary death during childbirth or after delivery, and for nurses to take information gained
back to their community clinics to train others. Dr. Langeland and Dr Shefield expressed that
they will not be able to train every nurse in Sierra Leone but, by taking back the training
to their communities, many more nurses will benefit from this training.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the participants were trained on the Helping Babies Breathe training module, and on Friday and Saturday they received instruction on Essential Care for Every Baby and Essential Care for Small Babies.

Project Hope, partnering with the Ministry of Health, had arranged for midwives and nurses from throughout the various western districts of Sierra Leone to participate in the training. There were also several facilitators who attended that had previously been trained on Helping Babies Breathe and the Essential Care of Babies.

The Saturday session concluded with a ceremony honoring all the participants. Certificates of completion were handed out by Kristin Anderson from Project Hope. Representing the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation was Marima Momoh, the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care National Training Coordinator for the MOHS. Also in attendance was the Team from Project Hope.  The community was represented by Kasho Holland-Cole, the Council Chairman from the Western Area Rural District.

Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, six times higher than the global average.  It also has one of the highest infant mortality rates.  These high mortality rates are the result of many difficult challenges but most of these deaths could be prevented if women were reached with the right information and skilled care.  The Church of Jesus Christ collaborates with agencies such has Project Hope to provide the necessary training and resources to create a network of skilled health workers throughout Africa.