Amnesty International has reported extreme concern about maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, saying that many women and girls in the country cannot afford proper obstetric and maternity care and that others are discriminated against simply because they are female. The maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone officials sits at 1 in 8, one of the highest frequencies in the world.

Since a high percentage of births in the country occur at home, many women die there, bleeding to death or suffering from other complications. The government has pledged that all pregnant women will receive free healthcare, but large gaps in access clearly remain.

Aside from a major humanitarian concern, this crisis is, in the view of Amnesty, a terrible human rights atrocity.