By Emma Black

Sierra Leone’s Health Minister, Dr. Austin Demby announced a dip in maternal deaths from 443 to 354 per 100,000 live births between 2020 and 2023. Speaking at a World Health Day press conference marking the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 77th anniversary, he called it a step toward slashing rates below 300 by year’s end.

We’re on track, but not there yet, Demby said, eyes fixed on the UN’s 2030 goal of under 70 deaths per 100,000. The event, themed locally as tackling the public health emergency of Preventable Maternal and Child Mortality, doubled as a rallying cry no mother, no child, should slip through the cracks.

What’s driving the drop Demby pointed to a person-centered life stages strategy, pairing women with tailored care from pregnancy to postpartum. A digital tool, the Pregnancy Registration and Service tracking app (PReSTack), has been a game-changer tracking expectant mothers, flagging risks, and linking them to clinics fast. It’s saving lives by closing gaps, he said.

WHO’s Country Representative, Dr. George Ameh, backed him up, noting a jaw-dropping 78% plunge in maternal deaths since 2000, Sierra Leone’s not just talking progress it’s building it, Ameh said. More trained health workers, better clinics, and sharper data systems are the spine of the turnaround, we’ve scaled skills, cut barriers, and track every step to pivot quick, he added.

Ameh didn’t shy from the bigger picture: healthy mothers fuel thriving economies, every buck spent on maternal and newborn care pays back big stronger families, stronger nation, he said, from bustling Freetown to remote villages, Sierra Leone’s push more midwives, mobile health units, free services have cracked open access where doors once slammed shut.

Yet both leaders were blunt: the job’s half-done, the 2030 target looms, and hurdles rural gaps, overstretched staff persist. Demby leaned in No woman should die giving life, no child should miss their shot, it’s a call to arms for communities, chiefs, and nurses to keep the momentum.

As Freetown’s conference wrapped, the message was clear: Sierra Leone’s rewriting its story, one safer birth at a time. But the clock’s ticking. With data as their guide and hope as their fuel, Demby and Ameh are betting on a future where every mother lives to hold her child and every child grows to chase their own.