Local Girl Scout Troop 3327, led by parent volunteer Jenny Bradshaw, assembled 90 layette kits for Mercy Hospital's maternity ward.  Every woman who gives birth at the hospital receives a layette kit, including two each of cloth diapers, shirts or onesies,  washcloths, diaper pins, and a receiving blanket. The layette items were donated to Floris United Methodist Church's alternative giving initiative this past Christmas. The kits are deeply appreciated by the women who give birth at Mercy, most of whom have very little money. We are grateful to Troop 3327 and Floris UMC for their generous donation of time and materials.

If your organization is interested in assembling layette kits for Mercy Hospital, please contact Missions Specialist Linda Reinhard at lindareinhard@helpingchildrenworldwide.org.  These are the guidelines for the kits:​

Cesarean section deliveries save lives

The busy Mercy staff continues to deliver babies, through normal deliveries and cesarean deliveries when necessary.   Since the operating suite opened in 2018, the hospital has been able to provide life-saving emergency c-section procedures, saving the lives of mothers who are not able to deliver vaginally.   

The need for cesarean sections can be aggravated by a range of issues such as delays in accessing the appropriate level of care, and transportation delays.  Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, with 11 mothers dying of pregnancy-related complications for every 1000 live born babies.  The ability to perform c-section procedures at Mercy Hospital is a critical element of the global movement to reduce maternal mortality.  

 

Simple hernia procedures save the lives of babies and toddlers

Two-year-old Saidu's family brought him to the hospital suffering from an inguinal hernia, a condition that Mercy sees very often, possibly due to premature birth.  Untreated, inguinal hernia can lead to permanent intestinal damage.

Successful surgery was performed on Saidu to correct the hernia.  His family couldn't afford to pay for the life-saving procedure for their son, and were grateful for Mercy's excellent care, which was provided for free. 

Inguinal hernias look like a bulge or swelling in the groin or scrotum, and may be seen more easily when the baby cries.   A hernia can develop in the first few months after a baby is born.  It happens because of a weakness in the abdominal muscles.  To correct the hernia, the surgeon puts the loop of intestine back into the abdominal area and stitches the muscles together. 

The Child Reintegration Centre contacted Momodu and Momoh's Aunt Betty, with whom they had hope to live when they first came to Bo (see earlier story.)  The CRC offered to enroll the family in care, so that she can bring the boys into her home.  With the CRC's support. Auntie Betty happily agreed to take in her nephews, and Momodu and Momoh were reintegrated to live with her and their other two brothers.  

CRC Director Olivia Fonnie, along with CRC staff David Musa and Mabel Mustapha, brought the boys to their new home, equipped with a brand new mattress and duffles, plus backpacks and school supplies so they can go to their new school, SLC Primary-Dambala Road.   

CRC case managers Emmanuel and Abibatu visited the boys at school to see how they are settling into their new classroom.   Momodu and Momoh are happy to back at school.  They proudly shared their writing workbooks with Emmanuel and Abibatu.