MONROVIA, Montserrado – To promote healthy pregnancies and combat Liberia’s high maternal and early childhood mortality rates, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and its partners are expected to launch the Liberia Big Belly Business pregnancy book today in Monrovia.

The launch will take place at 11:00 a.m. at Royal Grand Hotel in Sinkor.

The term ‘big belly’ is often used informally in Liberia to refer to a pregnant woman.

After the end of the civil war, the country’s maternal mortality rate soared to 994 out of every 100,000 new births. Upon assuming office in 2006 as Africa’s first democratically elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promised that her government would make efforts to curtail the high maternal death rate. According to the World Health Organization, that number was reduced to 640 in 2013.

However, the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014 ravaged the country’s weak health system, with maternal health being no exception. The situation led to an increase in the deaths of pregnant women. As a result of the poor state of the health system and the increased death rate, Liberia was again rated among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa with high maternal mortality.

Fatu Nyain, OSIWA’s master trainer for the Big Belly Business program, said the event would bring together several stakeholders, women and health organizations and members of the several Big Belly clubs organized across the country.

Nyain said the book provides women with health literacy and empowerment information to help expecting women learn how to have a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery, and a healthy baby.

“The book has all the information you need to know about your pregnancy and the care that [is] required,” she said.

The month-to-month guide allows pregnant women to anticipate the various changes to their bodies and instructs them on what to do each step of the way. “It also gives advice to the husband, mother-in-laws, friends, neighbors and community members and everyone around you to take active part in caring for the pregnant woman,” Nyain added.

Pages from the Big Belly Business book. Photo: Jefferson Krua

The illustrated Big Belly Business book was written in simple Liberian English for easy understanding by Liberians who may not be well-educated. Prominent individuals such as Elma Shaw, T. Michael Weah, and Chase Walker all contributed to its contents.

The program, Nyain said, is a true U.S.-Liberia collaboration, as its implementation by OSIWA was in partnership with American institutions such as the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issue, the Women’s Health Innovative Program of the U.S. State Department, the What to Expect Foundation, and Simply Put.

Fatu Nyain, Master Trainer, Big Belly Business Program, OSIWA-Liberia. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

She dismissed any suggestion that the book encourages women to get pregnant. She said since September, more than 50,000 copies have been distributed to pregnant women across the country, free of charge.

Veronica Johnson, the director of Positive Change Women and Girls Initiative, a group working in Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Grand Cape Mount, said the book is making an impact on families. Besides just being a maternal health guide, she said the book can also help to build family love and unity as it deals with other issues such as abuse and misconceptions about pregnancies.

“I can remember a case involving a girl who was being put out of [her] home by her father because she got pregnant while still in school,” she explained. “We got there and read some provisions concerning families in this book. Her father was convinced, and he abandoned his decision. Today, this girl has safely given birth, and her father named her child – and they are all living happily together.”

Veronica Johnson, Director, Positive Change Women and Girls Initiative. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

Princess Millimonu, a beneficiary of the program, testified that she was initially frustrated about being pregnant at a young age, but gained knowledge to take care of herself through the Big Belly program. She said her hope of still making it in life was also restored through reading the pregnancy guide.

She said since giving birth, she enrolled in a program to study nursing “because of the courage I got from the program.”

Princess Millimouno, Beneficiary of the Program. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

Featured photo by Jefferson Krua