Sierra Leone: Having children is a deadly business

A pregnant woman is more likely to die giving birth in Sierra Leone than in any other country in the world. Health experts blame a shortage of medical staff equipped to deal with complications that can occur during labour, as well as the financial and logistical impracticalities of getting from home to a hospital. In this West African country struggling to emerge from a decade-long civil war, mothers die in 1,800 of every 100,000 live births, according to the 2005 global report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).