Liberia has made progress in reducing maternal mortality from 1072 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2013 to 742 by 2020. However, the country still has one of the region's highest maternal mortality burdens. Limited access to quality obstetric care is a key factor contributing to the high maternal and newborn deaths. To tackle this challenge, the country has set to attain improved access by ensuring the availability of five basic EmONC (BEmONC) facilities and one comprehensive EMONC (CEmONC) facility per 200 000 populations. With support from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) strengthened the capacity of 80 nurses and midwives in EmONC in Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Montserrado counties. 

“Before this training, I had a limited understanding of all the gaps in care that contribute to maternal deaths,” says Nyemimah Williams, a midwife, nurse, and deputy administrator of maternity hospital at the JFK Medical Center Compound. “Now, I learned the skills to proactively provide timely and respectful maternity care. By implementing these techniques in our hospital, I am determined to significantly reduce the maternal and neonatal deaths, particularly due to postpartum hemorrhage and preeclampsia at our hospital," she adds.

This ten-day training, encompassing 13 modules, focused on building practical obstetric and newborn care and resuscitation skills.  Under the guidance of WHO, national trainers and county facilitators from the MOH, knowledge and skills were transferred through a combination of lectures, interactive sessions, scenario-based learning, and hospital clinicals, and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) facilitated by the prescribed checklists.

"Building on observations from last year's mentorship program which revealed capacity gaps among midwives and nurses, this initiative addressed lifesaving interventions to urgently reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. In the first round, we prioritized hard-to-reach health facilities with high maternal mortality rates and the key referral hospitals in Montserrado with plans to expand this vital training to other regions,” says Farzee Johnson, Maternal Health Coordinator at the Ministry of Health. “We thank WHO and the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation for their instrumental support and collaboration, which have been crucial to the success of this training,” she added. 

At the end of the workshops, each healthcare facility in Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Montserrado counties will have the technical capacity to provide EmONC services and hence prevent maternal and newborn deaths. “These trainings are essential to strengthening sexual reproductive health care services holistically by contributing to improved skills and competence of healthcare providers,” states Dr Musu Julie Duworko, WHO Liberia Family Health and Population Advisor. WHO, with support from the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, aims to also enhance the capacity of healthcare facilities through the provision of equipment for SRH care.