By Emma Black
Pregnancy brings joy, but for some Sierra Leonean women, it can turn into a fight for survival, conditions like Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) a brutal form of vomiting far beyond morning sickness alongside other warning signs, can threaten mothers and babies if ignored. Health experts are sounding the alarm know the risks, seek help, and don’t let “it’s just pregnancy silence your pain.
Take HG, a condition hitting up to 2% of pregnant women worldwide, but often missed in Sierra Leone’s stretched clinics. Mariama Sesay, a 26-year-old from Makeni, learned the hard way, I couldn’t keep water down, lost weight, felt like dying, she recalls, People said ‘tough it out.’ I nearly didn’t make it, her doctor’s diagnosis HG led to IV fluids and meds that saved her and her son.
Dr. Isatu Kamara, a Freetown obstetrician, stresses HG isn’t weakness it’s a medical crisis, vomiting all day, dizzy, dropping pounds? That’s not normal, she says. Untreated, HG risks dehydration, malnutrition, and stunted baby growth sometimes landing moms in hospital. In Sierra Leone, where 1 in 20 births ends in maternal death, dismissing HG can be deadly.
But HG’s just one red flag. Kamara lists others demanding instant action: vaginal bleeding, severe headaches, blurred vision, sudden swelling in hands or face, fever over 38°C, less baby movement, severe belly pain, or trouble breathing. Any of these could signal preeclampsia, infection, or worse, she warns. “Don’t wait get to a clinic.
Bleeding with cramps might mean miscarriage or placenta issues. Headaches with dizziness or vision changes scream preeclampsia a blood pressure spike that killed 443 moms per 100,000 births here in 2020. Swelling or fever can flag infections; less kicking from baby could spell distress. Every sign’s a shout for help,” Kamara says. Yet rural women, far from hospitals, often delay—some never make it.
Fatmata Bangura, a Kenema mom, ignored blurred vision last year, I thought it was stress, she says. Her sister dragged her to a health post just in time preeclampsia was caught, her twins saved. I’d tell any woman: don’t hide it. Speak up. Posts on X echo her, with users urging: Moms, your life matters check those signs!
The stakes are high Sierra Leone’s maternal mortality, down to 354 per 100,000 by 2023, still dwarfs global goals. Health Minister Dr. Austin Demby’s pushing back with apps like PReSTack to track pregnancies and more midwives in villages. But awareness lags. No woman should die giving life, Demby said at a recent World Health Day event. Know the signs, demand care.”
For moms like Mariama and Fatmata, it’s personal. HG, preeclampsia, or other dangers aren’t just pregnancy they’re battles needing doctors, not grit. As Sierra Leone builds clinics and trains nurses, the message is clear: if your body’s screaming bleeding, blurring, aching doesn’t whisper. Run to help. Your baby’s counting on it.
