Publications

Maternal and Child Health Conference Report (2025)

This report details the successful second iteration of a 5-day maternal and child health training program, which expanded the cohort of midwives in Sierra Leone equipped with life-saving skills. The training, hosted at the Kenema Midwifery School, focused on crucial areas like Helping Mothers Survive: Bleeding After Birth and Essential Newborn Care, and also included sessions on quality improvement and mental health. It also provided opportunities for Rising Trainers from previous trainings to develop their leadership and mentorship skills, contributing to long-term improvements in maternal and child health outcomes across Sierra Leone.

Maternal and Child Health Conference Report (2024)

Our first conference report delves into the successful collaboration of 19 organizations that came together to train nearly 100 midwives in essential maternal health practices. This comprehensive document offers valuable insights into the lessons learned, key factors contributing to the conference’s success, and the detailed methodology employed. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your journey in global health, this report provides actionable guidance for those seeking to build capacity through continuous medical education in the Global South. Discover how to replicate this impactful initiative and improve maternal health outcomes worldwide.

From Silos to Synergy: How the Funding Landscape is Shifting for Maternal and Newborn Health, Justice, and Equity (2021)

This report, developed by Global Health Visions in partnership with the Global Force for Healing and the National Birth Equity Collaborative, aims to reflect the current funding landscape for maternal and newborn health, rights, and birth equity programs, in the U.S. and around the world. Through an in-depth analysis of U.S.-based donors, the report highlights current trends, gaps, and key recommendations for shaping the future of maternal and newborn health, justice, and equity through the funding landscape, including how donors can be more responsive to community needs and increase impact for all stakeholders.

Funding Equity: Birth Justice and Human Rights in Maternal and Infant Health (2019)

Funding Equity: Birth Justice and Human Rights in Maternal and Infant Health is a collection of position papers on the critical role of funders in promoting birth justice and human rights in the U.S. and worldwide. Funding Equity is more than a report. It powerfully addresses underlying causes of disparities in worldwide access to quality care during the childbearing years for marginalized communities, and offers effective solutions from organizations on the ground.

Healthy Birthing Teaching Guide for Expectant Fathers (2019)

This document is produced as part of the “Paternity Project” implemented by Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development (CASD) in Cameroon with the generous support of Global Force for Healing (GFH) and the Ministry of Public Health Cameroon. The objective is to increase knowledge resources on ANC and Postnatal care targeting expectant fathers in limited resource settings.

Organizations, families and individuals can use this document to enhance the skills of expectant fathers on their role in achieving a healthy childbirth. The manual takes the man from identifying a pregnant woman, supporting the pregnancy, assisting in the delivery, providing care to the newborn, and planning for the next child (if needed).

Global Birth Models (2014)

This report highlights effective organizational models for healthy childbirth in particular cultural settings, in order to provide guidance, inspiration, and ideas that may be applicable to other cultural environments. We also highlights why particular strategies and each model as a whole leads to successful birth outcomes and reduction of maternal and infant deaths.

Check out the Helping Children Worldwide Optimistic Voices Podcast

Community-Led Change is Possible When We Listen and Trust – Optimistic Voices

Send us a textWhat happens when we stop viewing rural communities as problems to be fixed and start recognizing them as powerful agents of their own transformation? The answer unfolds beautifully in this eye-opening conversation with Aminata Kamara and Sheku Mohamed Gassimu Jr. from One Village Partners (OVP), a Sierra Leonean organization revolutionizing how sustainable development happens in remote communities."Communities are not like a white paper. They have knowledge of their lives. They have knowledge of what a thriving community looks like," explains Aminata, OVP's Country Director. This profound respect for local wisdom forms the foundation of their approach, which they describe through the powerful metaphor of a "sharpening stone" – not doing the work for communities, but enhancing capabilities that already exist.Since 2010, OVP has partnered with 70 communities across Sierra Leone, impacting over 75,000 people through three interconnected programs that build local leadership, empower women economically, and enable communities to design and implement their own development solutions. Their methodology stands in stark contrast to traditional aid models, as they intentionally transfer decision-making power to community members at every step – from identifying needs through participatory assessments to collaboratively budgeting for solutions.The conversation delves into the challenges of this approach, including the struggle to secure flexible funding from donors who often prefer predetermined outcomes over community-defined indicators of success. Yet the transformations they witness – women gaining stronger voices in household decisions, men embracing more equitable gender roles, and communities independently solving complex problems – confirm that true sustainability comes when people lead their own development journey.Perhaps most impressive is how OVP practices internally what they preach externally, having transitioned to completely Sierra Leonean leadership while distributing power throughout their organization. As Sheku powerfully concludes, "When communities have the space, the platform to actually lead their own development, they are able to surmount the insurmountable."Ready to rethink how sustainable change happens? Listen now and discover a model that trusts communities to write their own success stories. ____Firmly Rooted – A new documentary on orphanage response – the right way!To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org__________ ____Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how. Give to a 25 year legacy – plant seeds of hope! ________Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html******Support the showHelpingchildrenworldwide.org