Binta Jolloh (second left) together with her twins visits Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital to thank doctor Yu Ling (second right), who helped to deliver the babies, on 6 January 

Binta Jolloh, together with her twins, returned to Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital a year after their birth there. This time, she was there to thank the doctor Yu Ling, who had helped to deliver the babies. Yu, an obstetrician from Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Hunan Province in China, is a member of the 23rd Chinese medical team in Sierra Leone.  

In the early hours of 13 February 2022, Jolloh struggled to cope with the pain as her twins made their way into the world in Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital. Yu found that Jolloh was suffering from fetal malposition and oligohydramnios. To make things worse, fetal movement was decreasing, a warning sign of potential fetal impairment or risk. Yu immediately decided to perform caesarean section. A few hours later, Jolloh gave birth to healthy twins and smiled to Yu. 

“I was nervous but confident I could successfully give birth because I had faith in the medical skill of the professional Chinese doctors,” Jolloh said.  

Becoming a mother is a source of joy, love, and a lot more. But for many women, it is also a cause of death. The situation is much worse in Sierra Leone where one in 20 women dies due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth, most often because of loss of blood, according to the latest United Nations estimates. The West African country consistently ranks as one of the riskiest places on Earth to give birth.  

To help to improve the availability and quality of medical care in Sierra Leone, Hunan Province in China has been sending medical aid teams to the African country since March 1973, under the arrangement of China’s National Health Commission. Over the past five decades, the province has sent 42 medical teams comprising 530 medical workers to Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, as part of China’s efforts to ramp up medical assistance to Africa. The teams usually include several obstetricians and gynaecologists to help to improve maternal and newborn health. 

Yu Ling receives a farewell gift from Samuel Ngaujah (second left) and other health workers on 27 February 

A difficult mission   

Yu is a veteran clinician with over 20 years of experience in obstetrics and gynaecology, and has helped with the deliveries of over 20,000 babies. 

When departing from Hunan in November 2021, Yu thought she was fully prepared for the difficulties before arriving at the hospital located 30 km away from the capital Freetown, but the reality was worse than expected. 

“The hospital suffered from shortages of doctors, equipment and medicines, and some medical technologies commonly used in China were not available,” Yu told ChinAfrica. She also faced language and cultural barriers, shortage of water and electricity and the threat of COVID-19. 

The biggest challenge she faced was a power outage in the middle of a delivery at night. “In fact, it was downright dangerous. A power outage is probably the last thing anyone would want to see happening midway through a surgery, let alone while performing the task of delivering a baby,” Yu said.  

But she had to contend with power cuts during the surgery and prepare for it beforehand. “We knew that there were frequent power outages in the hospital - they could happen at any time, even at night - so we had obtained an electric torch to be able to continue the operation under the flashlight,” Yu told ChinAfrica.  

Due to her professional expertise and clinical experience, Yu made several breakthroughs during her time at the hospital. She saved many critically ill patients. She made innovations in the execution of complex surgeries, remarkably lowering the rate of infant and maternal mortality at the hospital. At the same time, she taught local medical staff medical concepts and surgical techniques in order to pass on her expertise to more professionals. 

Yu and the local team performed a total of over 200 obstetric and gynaecological surgeries during her stay in the hospital, the highest number of surgeries among the 23rd Chinese medical team, and many were serious cases transferred from other hospitals of Freetown. 

Yu Ling conducts an operation at Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital on 5 September 2022   

A friend in need  

Doctor Samuel Ngaujah, head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department and the only obstetrician in Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital, was an ideal partner of Yu. Fluent in Chinese, Ngaujah had a close relationship with China. 

With scholarship from China, Ngaujah studied medicine for his bachelor’s degree at Jiamusi University between 2010 and 2015 and obstetrics and gynaecology for a master’s degree at Shandong University from 2015 to 2018.  

“It was especially rewarding to see a doctor nurtured in China putting his skills to work back in his home country, particularly considering the scarcity of obstetricians in the country,” Yu said. 

Indeed, there are very few obstetricians in the country. According to the Mama-Pikin Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a mission to improve the health of women, children and families in Sierra Leone, there are currently fewer than 10 obstetricians/gynaecologists in the country of 8 million people.  

Therefore, in addition to her routine work, Yu helped Ngaujah to improve his surgical skills. “Professor Yu is kind-hearted and very passionate. She is an excellent team player and a mother who takes care of pregnant women and their babies,” he told ChinAfrica. 

Ngaujah felt grateful for obstetricians from China as they have played a great role in helping to reduce maternal deaths, which used to be very high.  

“They offer their expertise and are very passionate about saving pregnant women,” Ngaujah said. “They are always on call wherever they are, and the quality of their work is praiseworthy.”  

For Yu, giving is receiving. “Working with my counterparts here also let me learn a lot about their culture, good manner, and attitude towards learning,” Yu said. 

In March, Yu returned to Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University after completing her medical aid mission in Serra Leone. She said she developed deep respect and care for local people after more than one year of contact and treatment.