WHO · UNICEF · UN IGME 2024← All Countries

🇱🇷

Maternal & Child Mortality
in Liberia

West Africa · #21 of 30 worst globally

Child Deaths Since Jan 1, 2026

0

59.4 per 1,000 live births · Liberia

Deaths at Birth Today

0

est. newborns today

Infant Mortality Rate

59.4

per 1,000 · 2.2× world avg

Maternal Mortality Rate

652

per 100,000 · 3.3× world avg

West Africa

Birth Mortality Crisis

Mothers & Newborns
Dying in Liberia
During Childbirth

652 maternal deaths per 100,000 — reflecting near-total destruction of the skilled health workforce through war and emigration.

Newborn & Infant Mortality

59.4deaths per 1,000 live births

2.2× the world average

Maternal Mortality During Birth

652deaths per 100,000 live births

3.3× the world average

👶

Newborn & Child Deaths During Birth in Liberia

Back-to-back civil wars (1989–2003) killed 10% of the population. When Ebola arrived in 2014, Liberia had just 51 doctors for a population of 4 million.

Meaningful improvement since 2003 peace. Post-Ebola recovery is slow but steady.

Leading Causes of Child Death at Birth

Malaria30%

Neonatal causes24%

Diarrhoea15%

Pneumonia13%

Other18%

* Neonatal deaths (first 28 days) represent the largest share of under-5 mortality.

What Happens in the Delivery Room

🏥

Births in a health facility~82%

estimated — lower in conflict/rural areas

👩‍⚕️

Skilled birth attendant present~49%

doctor, midwife or trained nurse

⚠️

Neonatal deaths (first 28 days)48%

of all under-5 deaths occur at birth

🩸

Most preventable with skilled care~75%

of child and maternal deaths

🤱

Maternal Mortality During Birth in Liberia

Brain drain has left Liberia critically short of health professionals. Ebola erased a decade of maternal health progress in 18 months.

Improving post-Ebola but still below 2013 levels in rural areas.

Causes of Death During Labour & Delivery

Haemorrhage28%

Eclampsia22%

Sepsis19%

Obstructed labour16%

Malaria in pregnancy10%

Other5%

* Haemorrhage and eclampsia together cause over 50% of deaths — both are treatable with basic skilled care.

Why Mothers Die at Birth Here

🩺

Emergency obstetric care availableLimited

few facilities can manage haemorrhage

🩸

Blood transfusion accessCritical gap

haemorrhage kills within 2 hours

💊

Magnesium sulphate (eclampsia)Often absent

costs $1 — saves lives instantly

✅

If skilled care were universal~75% fewer deaths

WHO estimate for this mortality level

⚠️

Why Is This Still Happening?

Structural Barriers to Safe Birth in Liberia

14 years of civil war destroying health infrastructure

2014 Ebola epidemic with only 51 doctors for 4M people

Severe brain drain of health professionals

Rubber plantation economy with poor worker health coverage

🎯

SDG 3 Progress Assessment

Sustained investment in health worker training and retention is the critical lever for Liberia.

💡

Prevention & Solutions

How Can We Prevent This in Liberia?

📍 The Situation

Liberia's health system was rebuilt almost from scratch after its civil wars, and then devastated again by the 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic. Today, the country has a young health workforce with limited diagnostic skills for non-infectious conditions — including obstetric emergencies.

🔬 How Ultrasound Helps

Liberia's young, post-Ebola health workforce is actually an asset in the context of POCUS training — they are adaptable, motivated, and comfortable with technology. GUSI's OB POCUS course, delivered online through ScanHub™, is accessible to Liberian nurses and midwives with smartphone access and can be completed alongside ongoing clinical duties.

🎓 The Training Gap

Liberia's established NGO health sector can provide the supervision structure needed for clinical sign-off. GUSI's online-first model — with in-person supervised practice as the final step — maps perfectly onto Liberia's existing international NGO health network.

What a trained provider can detect with a portable ultrasound device

🩸Placenta previa

🔄Malpresentation

👥Twin pregnancy

📉Fetal growth restriction

⚡Pre-eclampsia markers

🫁Childhood pneumonia

💉Internal bleeding

🧠Hydrocephalus

🧮

Interactive Model

POCUS Impact Calculator — Liberia

Model based on: 600 scans/provider/year · 15% high-risk detection rate · 47% mortality reduction for detected cases (Swanson et al. 2014 · WHO POCUS in LMICs review)

Number of POCUS-trained providers deployed in Liberia50

1 provider250500 providers

Scans per Year

30,000

pregnant women screened

High-Risk Detected

4,500

flagged for referral / intervention

Maternal Deaths Prevented

44

mothers saved per year

Newborn Deaths Prevented

48

babies saved per year

Total Lives Saved Per Year

92deaths prevented

1.8

lives per provider

$269

est. cost per life saved

$24,750

total training investment

* This calculator uses a conservative evidence-based model. Actual impact varies by deployment context, provider experience, and health system capacity. Training cost based on GUSI OB POCUS Essentials (~$495/provider). Mortality reduction from peer-reviewed POCUS implementation studies in low-resource settings.

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Technology & Education

A Practical Plan to Bring POCUS to Liberia

🗺️ Deployment Roadmap for Liberia

Baseline assessment — map existing facilities, referral pathways, blood supply, and available midwives, nurses, and physicians who could be trained.
Provider training — enrol local champions in GUSI's OB POCUS Essentials + Pediatric POCUS courses. Certify a core group to train others.
Device procurement — select appropriate portable handheld devices based on power infrastructure, connectivity, and budget (see brands below).
Protocols & referral integration — define what to scan, what findings trigger referral, and how to document scans at the point of care.
Quality assurance — regular image review sessions, outcomes tracking, and refresher training to maintain competency.

📡 Recommended Portable Ultrasound Devices

🦋 Butterfly iQ+

Website →

Single-probe whole-body device covering OB, cardiac, lung, and FAST exams. App-based platform with built-in AI guidance. Designed for low-resource environments — charges via USB and works with any smartphone.

🔵 Philips Lumify

Website →

App-based probe that plugs into Android phones. Multiple transducer heads available for OB and point-of-care use. Widely used in GUSI-supported training programs globally.

🟢 GE Vscan Air

Website →

Wireless, pocket-sized dual-probe handheld. Streams live images to a smartphone app. Excellent battery life — purpose-built for rapid bedside OB and FAST-style assessments.

🔷 Clarius HD3

Website →

High-resolution wireless handheld. Multiple probe configurations available. Strong image quality in a compact form factor — suitable for OB, lung, and neonatal scanning.

Global Ultrasound Institute · GUSI

The training that closes the gap — built for providers in settings like Liberia

GUSI trains physicians, nurses, midwives, and community health workers in Point-of-Care Ultrasound. Courses are designed from the ground up for providers in resource-limited settings — short, practical, competency-based, and available online or in person. Every course maps directly to the conditions killing mothers and babies during childbirth.