The Mama-Pikin Foundation
The Mama-Pikin Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 2008 by Pediatrician Dr. Shekou Sesay and Obstetrician/Gynecologist Dr. Fatu Forna Sesay. Its goals are to help enhance, improve and otherwise positively contribute to the health and well being of mothers, children, and families in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
The Mama-Pikin Foundation supports clinics in multiple districts in Sierra Leone.
- Providing a delivery bucket to every woman who delivers a baby at foundation-supported clinics. Each bucket contains a sheet of plastic to provide a clean surface area for delivery, a Lappa (cloth) to wrap the baby, and soap. Each kit costs $7 and the foundation has distributed over 20,000 buckets so far. The buckets have been very successful in decreasing maternal and neonatal infections, and in providing an incentive for women to come to the clinics to deliver. Dangerous home deliveries have been decreased substantially in the areas served by the Mama-Pikin Foundation-supported clinics.
- Providing transportation assistance so women don’t have to walk many miles when in labor. The foundation reimburses motorcycle taxis who bring women in labor to the clinics.
- Providing support for Community Health Officers to promote delivery in clinics, breastfeeding, and identification of sick and at risk pregnant women and children.
- The Mama-Pikin Foundation was just awarded a $3.85 million grant to support the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospitals Complex to train obstetrician/gynecologist and pediatric specialists in Sierra Leone. There are currently less than 10 Sierra Leonean obstetrician/gynecologists and pediatricians in the entire country. The grant was awarded by an anonymous donor.
Dr. Fatu Forna is a global obstetrician-gynaecologist, author, philanthropist, and advocate for the reproductive health of women.
- Copyright © 2024 Dr. Fatu Forna
- Site by Dee Caulcrick Design