Africa

Sierra Leone battles maternal mortality

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers some of the highest rates of maternal deaths in the world.
Last Modified: 19 Nov 2012 08:48

In Sierra Leone, one in eight women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth. This is one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.

Only Somalia and Chad come higher.

That means a woman giving birth in Sierra Leone is more than 200 times more likely to bleed to death after giving birth than a woman living in Sweden.

But a new strategy being implemented in a remote area of the country has reduced the number of deaths by 61 per cent.

Al Jazeera's Ama Boateng has the details.

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Al Jazeera
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