Aberdeen Women’s Centre, Sierra Leone

Established in 2005, the Aberdeen Women’s Centre is one of only a few locations on the African continent offering obstetric fistula repair for women. The Centre is managed by The Gloag Foundation and in addition to fistula surgeries, operates a children’s clinic which treats more than 6,000 children per year and a new maternity unit, opened in April 2010, which is expected to see up to 1200 births per year. All services are provided free of charge.

The Freedom From Fistula Foundation is also working to expand its services and its outreach projects within Sierra Leone to reach the women in rural villages who are suffering in silence without hope for the future.

The Aberdeen Women’s Centre includes an operating theatre capable of supporting two simultaneous fistula operations, a ward capable of accommodating 44 acute-care surgical patients, and clinical laboratory and pharmacy facilities. There is capacity for 500 to 600 fistula patients per year.

It also runs an outpatient clinic as a primary care facility for children 12 and under in the surrounding community, providing initial diagnosis, basic medical care, immunisations and health education.

Ann Gloag and First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma  officially opening the maternity unit.

On 29 April 2010, Ann Gloag and the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma officially opened the new maternity clinic at Aberdeen Women’s Centre in Freetown.

Ann Gloag said, “It is inconceivable that, in the 21st century, millions of women across Africa still do not have proper access to quality medical care during pregnancy and childbirth. The ‘lucky ones’ survive childbirth but often lose their child and are left with horrific injuries which render them incontinent.

“The Aberdeen Women’s Centre has been treating women with birth injuries for the last five years but prevention is the cure so we decided to open a maternity clinic as part of the centre in order to address the long-term goal of improving maternal health and reducing childbirth injuries which are devastating.

The goal of the new maternity clinic is to provide mothers in Sierra Leone with quality care during childbirth which will have the double benefit of reducing the number of childbirth injuries, as well as helping to reach the worldwide Millennium Development Goal #5 which aims to reduce maternal mortality across the developing world.

In addition, local midwives and medical students will be trained to recognise, treat and avoid possible obstetric fistulas which are caused when a women is severely injured during prolonged, obstructed childbirth and results in them being rendered incontinent.

This is part of the organisation’s long-term plan to reduce the incidence of obstetric fistula in Sierra Leone, where there is an estimated 4,500 new cases each year.

Initially, it is expected many patients will be women who arrive late in labour and with serious complications but with time it is hoped women will register in advance for antenatal care in order that they can receive medical help throughout their pregnancy, reducing the risk of injury or death to the mother, as well as the child.

Terri Bilton, Manager of the Aberdeen Women’s Centre, said, “Maternity services here are severely lacking and those that do exist are beyond the financial reach of many expecting mothers. In addition, existing healthcare providers are often unfamiliar with many birthing complications, especially obstetric fistula.

“As well as treating the expectant mothers, training the local midwives and healthcare professionals is a crucial element of our long-term plan. We are implementing a midwife training programme and, in the first year, we will train 10 midwives to serve at the unit and we will expand the numbers each year, thereby boosting the capacity in the area.”

Ann Gloag and new born baby, Medeatu

The Aberdeen Women’s Centre has the capacity to:

deliver 1,200 babies each year in the maternity clinic

treat up to 500 women each year in the fistula clinic

treat more than 6,000 children each year in the outpatient clinic

According to the World Health Organisation, Sierra Leone suffers the world's highest child mortality rate and one child in four does not live to see their fifth birthday. *maternal mortality ratio for Sierra Leone is 2,000/100,000 live births (UK ratio is 6.2/100,000)