Motherhood should be a choice
Part 3
We think mothers should be celebrated everyday! Motherhood is an all-consuming 24/7 job that requires equal parts love, nurturing, tenacity and courage. In honor of Mother’s Day, our Motherhood Should Be a Choice series tells the stories of women who are choosing their own futures for themselves and their families.
This is the story of Margaret Louve, an MSI client and mother of seven who educates her adolescent children on reproductive rights.
Young women and girls face many barriers when they try to access sexual and reproductive health services. MSI recognizes that adolescent women face obstacles regarding their age, marital status, and limited income, so we are adapting our traditional delivery models to serve them.
As a teacher in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, Margaret knows the risks of an unplanned pregnancy all too well. In the country with the worst maternal mortality rate in the world, an estimated 1 in 17 mothers in the country will die during pregnancy or childbirth, many of them because of unsafe abortions.
Margaret is 39 years old and, unlike many women in Sierra Leone, has steady work. However, as the family’s sole bread-winner, she faces a daily struggle to support her seven children.
“The teacher’s salary is not sufficient,” she explained.
Each day, she supplements her salary by preparing food to sell to her students. She uses this money to buy food for her own children.
For many years, she wanted to work but was unable to because of a succession of unplanned pregnancies. Accessing contraception allowed her to start working and gain economic independence.
“Before, I depended on friends, relatives and my husband purely for survival,” she said. “Ever since I received the contraceptive, my worries about becoming pregnant stopped and I was able to pursue my career in a teacher’s college. I am not earning much but now I can support myself and my children with the money I bring in.”
Despite having very little free time, Margaret tries to spend an hour each evening with her children.
Since Margaret’s oldest daughter, Mariama, started puberty, she has gotten extra time with her mother. Instead of nursery rhymes and spelling, they now speak about contraception and the importance of family planning. Margaret does not want her daughters to experience what she experienced.
“Having many children was never part of my plan,” she said. “I [speak about contraception] because I want my kids to go through school and university, to be better people for our country tomorrow.”
To Margaret and to all amazing mothers worldwide, happy Mother’s Day.
Click here to read Part One of the Motherhood Should Be a Choice series.
Click here to read Part Two of the Motherhood Should Be a Choice series.
