In Sierra Leone, a New Maternal Hospital Aims to be the Blueprint

The maternal center, which will cost an estimated $10 to $12 million a year to run and includes a birthing center, inpatient wards with a 120-bed capacity, three operating theaters, a lab and the country’s first facility that provides mechanical ventilation for premature babies, is expected to be able to handle over 4,700 births annually. While many of those patients will be from Sierra Leone, the center estimates that women from neighboring countries, including Guinea and Liberia, will also take advantage of their services.

One unexpected benefit of building the hospital, Ms. Dumbuya said, was that more than 60 percent of the construction workers on the project were women, many without skills. “One of them said, ‘I’m building for my great-grandchildren who will still be here and my great-grandchild would have her child here. Even if I am not here, I will know I have done something good,’” she said.

Though Sierra Leone has, according to Dr. Demby, seen a 70 percent drop in maternal deaths over the last few years, which he said is “the fastest drop in the world,” the country’s numbers still hover in the top 20 in the world. So a facility like the one in Koidu, which has a focus on training and best practices, could help bring about significant changes in health outcomes for women and children across the country.

Ms. Dumbuya, Ms. Reed and Dr. Demby all agree that the center could also be an important blueprint in helping the country continue to drive down numbers of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth. Ms. Dumbuya said that they have already had interest from a number of development partners wanting to learn more about the facility, including its construction and health care development.

“If we can get this to another three, four parts of the country, happy days,” she said. “That would really make a great difference to our entire health care outcomes in this country, honestly.”