In an effort to boost maternal health in the country, a non-for-profit organization, Life for African Mothers (LFAM), has boosted the country’s maternal health by bringing in about US$250,000 worth of assorted medications to be distributed in the 15 counties along with the Ministry of Health.
Addressing the media over the weekend in Monrovia, the Country Representative of LFAM, Abdul-rahman Fayiah Bah, noted that LFAM is a non-for-profit organization, established 2005 in the United Kingdom, and started operating in Liberia in 2012.
According to him, LFAM has been working in nine of the 15 counties of Liberia, training midwives and also providing needed maternal medication for mothers and their babies.
LFAM has also been engaged in the distribution of babies’ clothing and assorted items to mothers. Bah also disclosed that his organization has trained about 500 midwives, and there is a plan to conduct more training for additional midwives around the country.
The LFAM Country Representative noted that the medication recently brought into the country is essential for maternal health. Some of the drugs brought into the country are Amoxicillin, contraceptives for both male and female, antibiotics for pregnant women, condoms and blood supplements for babies.
However, Bah decried that, despite that the medications are acquired free of charge, there is a need for more collaboration with the Government of Liberia (GOL) in shipping the pharmaceuticals to the country.
“Even though we have had a very cordial relationship with the Minister of Health over the years, we look forward to more cooperation and collaboration with the Executive, aimed at ensuring that most of these medications are shipped into the country for the benefit of our people,” Bah asserted.
Also addressing the media via WhatsApp from the United Kingdom, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LFAM, retired Nurse, Angela Gorman, noted that her organization seeks to ensure that maternal mortality is reduced around country.
According to her, it was a BBC program that motivated her passion to establish LFAM; after watching a documentary about maternal health in Africa.
About 16 years ago, while on a tour of duty in Niger with some of her colleagues to implement what she saw on the BBC program highlighting maternal mortality in Africa, she met with a representative of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) who asked her to come to Liberia to extend the goodwill.
Gorman indicated that, since 2008, she has been ensuring that mothers and babies in Liberia receive affordable maternal healthcare.
According to her, the medications are being donated by pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom, with a precondition that they are provided free-of-charge.
She continued, “Our objective is to make sure women around the globe feel cared for and empowered, and also ensure maternal medication is available and affordable free of charge.”
Gorman noted that she was glad that women are accessing the medications free of charge, thereby leading to a reduction in maternal mortality.