Maternal Center of Excellence

Kumba Sandy holds her newborn baby boy on the day they are being discharged to go home after giving birth at Koidu Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. She had been transferred to KGH due to complications during her pregnancy. This is her fifth child and fourth boy.

Every woman should have safe, dignified, and effective health care that allows her to define her future. In Sierra Leone, where maternal mortality is high, we’re building and staffing a state-of-the-art hospital for women and children, making this vision a reality.

Setting a New Standard for Health in Sierra Leone

The capacity and high quality of maternal and newborn care that will be delivered at the Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) are expected in wealthy countries but will be unprecedented in Sierra Leone. Built in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and scheduled to open in 2025, the MCOE will set new standards for high quality maternal and child health care that all women in Sierra Leone and beyond deserve. 

  • Child Family Icon
    121%
    Increase

    In facility-based deliveries

  • Solidarity Group Icon
    5x
    increase

    In family planning visits

  • Mother and Baby Icon
    <1%
    Mortality Rate

    Reduced by facility-based maternal health initiatives

No Woman Should Die Giving Birth

In Sierra Leone, the reality is stark: for every 100,000 live births, 354 mothers lose their lives, compared to just 11 in Canada. The disparity in healthcare resources is equally alarming.

Per 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, there are only 0.7 doctors and 2.04 nurses, while in Canada, those numbers jump to 24.64 doctors and 102.7 nurses.

A woman in Sierra Leone faces a lifetime risk of 1 in 74 of dying due to pregnancy or childbirth.

Together, we can cure this injustice

There have been vast improvements in maternal health care in Kono District since PIH Sierra Leone began working in the country in 2014. At Koidu Government Hospital (KGH), Isata Dumbuya, Director of Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health and Director of Maternal Centre of Excellence for PHI Sierra Leone and other leaders ushered in changes such as adding a blood bank and pharmacy next to the maternal ward, training nursing and midwifery staff on how to identify warning signs for at-risk pregnancies, and improving access to family planning for all women seeking care. Because of these and other efforts, there was a 36% increase in women choosing to give birth there from 2020 to 2022. In the recently established special care baby unit, premature or high-risk newborns now have a 96% survival rate.   

The incredible support of John and Hank Green and their online community have helped make the MCOE possible. See below for a look at MCOE progress through an on-site video from John Green in spring 2023.  

Watch GOOD NEWS on YouTube.

The Maternal Center of Excellence 

A bold solution to radically reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone 

Watch Bigger Than A Building: The Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone on YouTube.

The new center, which broke ground in April 2021, will provide advanced maternal and child health services in Kono District and beyond. It will serve as a hub for global innovation in maternal health to be replicated in Sierra Leone and around the world.