In a survey in Freetown in 2015, the maternal death rate for girls under 17 was 1 in 7 compared to 1 in 10 000 in the UK.  And when a girl dies, her baby has a 50% chance of dying before their first birthday.

With the input of young parents I researched the reasons why, and with my friend Mangenda Kamara, started a mentoring project.  Mentoring means that girls are more likely to access antenatal care - a vital life-saving intervention.  If you have untreated anaemia, you are at risk of bleeding; if you don't get your blood pressure checked, you can have an eclamptic fit with no warning; if you don't have your tetanus injections, you and your baby could die after birth.  And those are just a few examples of the benefits of mentoring.  I haven't mentioned having a birth companion, being supported to breastfeed, and having help setting up a little business so you can have enough to eat every day.

The pilot project has been running since October 2017 and its going great!  Our three mentors, aunties Aminata, Marie and Ruth have mentored 13 girls so far and we have had 8 safe births and lovely babies, several with the mentors going with the girls to hospital in the absence of a family member.  All the girls are running a small business and eating well every day, and have bought essentials for their babies.

We need to expand.  Last month a teenager in the area died for want of an adult to support and encourage her and that is a common story.  We want to double the project, and have 6 mentors by October 2018.  So I've re-opened this page, setting a new target of £15000 which will give us 2 years to demonstrate measurable impact.  Will you help us?

http://www.lifelinenetwork.org/project/mentoring-pregnant-teenagers/