Monrovia, March 4 -- Martha Jackson was sixteen when she became pregnant. Abandoned by her parents with no knowledge of maternal care, Hawa Smith, a Trained Traditional Midwife (TTM), became her guard.

"I was so scared and ashamed," recalls Jackson, now a mother of a three-month-old girl in Goba's Town, Todee District, Montserrado County. "But the midwife was always there to encourage me, ensure I took my medicine, and sleep under a mosquito net."

With the midwife's guidance, Jackson attended her prenatal visits, heeded the nurses' instructions, and delivered her baby safely without complications. In Liberia, poverty and limited healthcare services put pregnant women at risk. In rural communities, TTMs like Smith are on the frontlines...