Helping mothers and babies in Sierra Leone

Gbessay and her husband Mohammed have two young children: Fatmata who is four months and Ibrahim who is four.

Fatmata is a very healthy baby - much healthier than her brother Ibrahim.

Gbessay thinks this is because of the support she's been getting from a Save the Children clinic in her hometown...

Gbessay's story

"I am following the advice of the clinic and I say 'thanks to God' because Fatmata has been very healthy.

"When I was pregnant with Fatmata, I went to the clinic regularly. They gave me immunisations and if I was feeling ill they treated me. They also gave me bed nets for sleeping under to prevent mosquitoes biting me and the children.

"I was examined every month and, when they checked, they always told me the baby was doing well. It felt good to know this.

"They told us to eat iron-rich and body-building foods such as eggs and beans. I followed all their advice and I didn't have any problems during pregnancy or delivery.

"I gave birth at the clinic and my labour was fast. I believe it's important to give birth at the clinic for both the mother and the child. If there are any complications the nurses at the clinic can help. If you give birth at home there is no one.

"Since Fatmata was born, she's had no health problems. I've followed the advice of the clinic: they told us to breastfeed exclusively for six months... and to take her to the clinic for monitoring and immunisations. If your child has immunisations at the correct time, it will avoid a lot of common diseases such as measles and polio.

"The advice at the clinic is very good because it is helping me greatly; I have had no problems with my child. With Ibrahim I did not have this advice and, because I follow the advice, Fatmata is much healthier than Ibrahim.

"For a mother when your child is healthy it is the best thing. When your child is healthy you are among the happiest people."

Background

Gbessay and her family live in Pendembu town in Kailahun District, eastern Sierra Leone. The town has a Save the Children clinic where children and pregnant women can receive essential care.

Gbessay's clinic is 1 of 15 we run in Kailahun District. Collectively, these clinics treated 17,022 children under 5, and 7,464 older children, in the year 2006/07.

Sierra Leone is the second poorest country in the world, with infrastructure crippled by years of fighting and a severe lack of trained healthcare professionals. As a result, Sierra Leone is one of the toughest places to be a child. It has the worst child mortality rates in the world: one in four children will die before they reach their fifth birthday.

What you can do

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