MOMS' Legal Status
MOMS is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian, non-profit, agency with EIN 93-1254632. (Here is a link to the IRS site confirming our status. Enter the EIN.) MOMS is registered as a national non-governmental agency in Sierra Leone, and works with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS). MOMS works legally in both countries, in spite of the costs and hassles!
MOMS' Policy on Discrimination
MOMS does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or nationality; marital status or parenting status; gender, gender identity, gender role, or gender orientation; age; religious preferences; veteran’s status; or economic status.
We hope to maintain or increase our level of diversity. We find ourselves enriched by our differences.
MOMS’ History
MOMS was founded in 1999 by a few midwives to help educate birth attendants in West Africa. They tried to bring high-potential women from Senegal to the US to study midwifery. However, the events following September 11, 2001, stymied this plan. So MOMS changed gears, training US midwives with the hope that they would share their knowledge in developing nations.
In 2005, the Board of Directors re-evaluated these priorities and decided to focus directly on West Africa, and ultimately closed the US programs.
MOMS gathered volunteers to travel to Senegal to work in a clinic. Then in 2006 a small team went to Sierra Leone to do a needs assessment. They developed a program to teach the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) about providing effective maternity care — with an emphasis on nutrition, sanitation, family planning, breast feeding — and to act as change agents in their communities. In their new role, they are identified as “Community Health Workers.” Those who pass the class earn a government-authorized certificate that allows them to work anywhere in the country.
Statistics show marked improvement in maternal and neonatal mortality in the areas where MOMS teams have taught. The compliance with government regulations is higher, as is the cooperation among the clinic staff and the CHWs. One clinic leader, Veronica Foday, says, “When anyone asks how our results improved so much, I tell them that MOMS TBAs make the difference!”
Above, you see Buffy Price and Trish Ross eating cassava root stew for lunch with the rest
of the team and the clinic staff. Jitta Rogers-Seisay’s mother made it for us!