Recent public messaging from the Ministry of Health has drawn attention to what was described as a major milestone at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia.
ON THE MINISTRY'S OFFICIAL platform, Health Minister Dr. Louis Kpoto stated: "Zero Maternal Deaths Recorded Since December 2025. We are proud to announce that no maternal deaths were recorded at JFK Medical Center, the nation's cardinal referral institution, during December. This achievement reflects the dedication and commitment of the health care team at the Maternal Center, who continue to provide safe, high-quality care for every mother."
WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THE hard work of the dedicated clinicians whose efforts prevent deaths every day, this statement presents a narrow narrative that does not reflect the broader national reality.
AS MANY OBSERVERS have noted, it appears to be "people looking for good news that really doesn't exist," especially when measured against Liberia's surveillance data on maternal and neonatal outcomes across the country. Liberia's own Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Epidemiological Bulletins, compiled weekly across all fifteen counties, offer a clearer and more comprehensive picture.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
THESE REPORTS FOLLOW the World Health Organization's definition of Epidemiological Weeks (Epi-weeks), which run sequentially from Week 1 to Week 52 each calendar year. Thus, when the bulletin reports figures at Epi-week 50, it reflects outcomes accumulated over almost the entire year, providing a reliable sense of national trends rather than isolated monthly experiences in a single facility. Against this context, the data paint a sobering reality.
BY EPI-WEEK 50 in 2023, Liberia had already recorded 296 maternal deaths and 751 neonatal deaths (WHO defines a maternal death as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, excluding accidental or incidental causes; and a neonatal death as the death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), with nearly all maternal deaths occurring in health facilities but only one-quarter of them formally reviewed through death-audit processes.
IN 2024, BY Epi-week 46, the country recorded 270 maternal deaths, with 91 percent occurring in facilities and only about half reviewed, indicating that learning, accountability, and system-correction remained insufficiently applied. The trajectory into 2025 provides further cause for concern.
BY EPI-WEEK 31, 152 maternal deaths and 643 neonatal deaths had already been reported nationwide. While maternal death review coverage improved modestly to about two-thirds of facility-reported deaths, the pace of neonatal deaths appeared to be rising faster than in earlier years, driven largely by preventable causes such as birth asphyxia, prematurity, neonatal sepsis, and intrapartum complications. If such trends persist through Week 52, neonatal mortality in 2025 is likely to exceed previous years. Based on the national surveillance data, an average of six (6) to seven (7) women continue to die every week from pregnancy-related causes. This is not a sign of progress, it is evidence of persistent and systemic failures within the health system. These are not the characteristics of a health system in victory.
THEY REFLECT A system in which women and newborns continue to die at unacceptable and preventable rates, particularly in rural and underserved counties where transport barriers, weak referral pathways, and limited emergency obstetric and newborn care capacity persist. To highlight a single-month, single-facility outcome in urban Monrovia as a symbolic success, without referencing nationwide mortality trends, risks minimizing the suffering of families in counties such as River Gee, Grand Kru, Lofa, Nimba, Bomi, and beyond.
THE LEADING CAUSES of maternal deaths reported in the bulletins, postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, and sepsis -- are well-known, preventable conditions when health systems function effectively, when blood banks are reliable, when skilled providers and emergency care are available, and when timely transport links women to appropriate facilities. At the same time, community-level deaths remain undercounted, meaning the national burden may be even higher than official reports suggest.
AT A TIME WHEN Liberia remains among the countries with one of the world's highest maternal and neonatal mortality burdens, the country does not need symbolic victories or selective public messaging. It needs truthful leadership, transparent reporting, full implementation of maternal and neonatal death surveillance and review, equity-focused investment in rural health services, and system-wide reforms grounded in national evidence.
EVIDENTLY, LIBERIA REMAINS one of the world's hotspots for maternal and newborn deaths, a reality confirmed by international data that mirror the national IDSR surveillance findings. Recent UN and World Bank estimates place Liberia's maternal mortality ratio between 628 and 854 deaths per 100,000 live births, among the highest globally and far above the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000. Neonatal mortality remains equally alarming, estimated between 30 and 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, significantly higher than regional averages and far from global improvement benchmarks.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
IN THIS CONTEXT, when a national health system highlights "zero maternal deaths" at a single urban referral hospital for one month, without acknowledging nationwide trends or the many mothers and newborns still dying in counties such as Bomi, Sinoe, River Gee, Gbarpolu, and Grand Kru, it sends a troubling and misleading message that obscures the true scale of the crisis. We commend the health workers whose professionalism and sacrifice save lives daily.
THEIR SUCCESS SHOULD inspire investment in stronger systems, not celebratory narratives that overlook persistent risk and loss across the country. Donors, policymakers, and partners must be guided by complete surveillance data, not isolated facility outcomes, and must prioritize resources where the burden remains greatest. Liberia's goal must not be the celebration of zero maternal deaths in one hospital for one month. The national commitment must be to reduce and ultimately eliminate preventable maternal and neonatal deaths across every county, every facility, and every community. The mothers and children of Liberia deserve nothing less, and the nation's leadership must match public words with measurable, country-wide action.
