• Sierra Leone has among the highest Maternal Mortality and Infant Mortality Rates in the world
• When women die in pregnancy and childbirth, the very fabric of the family and the community is destroyed
• Hemorrhage, obstructed labor, ruptured uterus, sepsis, and hypertensive disorders account for almost 80% of maternal deaths
• Near absence of trained obstetrical personnel, supplies, and facilities in the more rural settings result in home deliveries by traditional birth attendants with no medical training
• Proper obstetric facilities offering emergency obstetric care and prenatal care do not exist or are simply too far away
• Lack of timely access to cesarean section/ operative delivery can result in maternal and/or neonatal death as well as devastating fistula formation

The Maternity Ward at the Holy Spirit Hospital is helping to change this