It was late May; the start of the rainy season when the city's waste flows down the mountain into the bay. The hot breezeless day did not help the stench and we had to avoid certain paths that were already flooded with sewage. By the time we arrived at the outreach clinic, several dozen young girls were already waiting in line, fanning themselves and each other by spinning scarfs of multi-coloured fabric around like a lasso.Once inside, Fullah and her colleague Salamatu Kamara explained to the young women the various methods of contraception they had in their box, how to use them, and the importance of doing so.During Ebola, schools were closed down, and this put girls at greater risk of teenage pregnancy.
August 8 marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency. These days, Fullah and other nurses are on the frontlines of another health crisis: teenage pregnancy."We see about 80 people a day at times, depending on what [contraceptive] drugs we have," Fullah says. "Often we don't have drugs to give them. It is always very busy. The girls that come to use our services are all ages—but most of them are teenagers. Some are 13 or 14, some are older than that."**Read more: The Broadly Guide to **Pregnancy
Murals highlight the fight to eradicate the Ebola virus in the country. All photos by Louis Leeson/Save The Children
Nurse Salamatu Kamara works in the outreach clinic for Susan's Bay.
Eighteen-year-old Kumba (center) became pregnant during the Ebola crisis.
Watch: The Abortion Pill"During Ebola, we couldn't do outreach work [for contraception]," Fullah says. "I and other nurses were working with people with Ebola in the clinics, and many people didn't come to the clinics out of fear of catching it."Longer-form methods of contraception such as implants or injections are the most popular, despite ongoing efforts to promote both condoms and femidoms. As well as contraception, the nurses at the center provide women's healthcare support and often have to refer young women on to specialist services run by Marie Stopes for the "mess" resulting from backstreet or self-administered abortions.
Nurse Fullah delivering a talk about contraception in the outreach clinic.
Favour, 17, became pregnant during the Ebola crisis and is now a mother to seven-month-old baby.
Sex education is not taught in schools, and the government's research into the increase in pregnancy during Ebola found that many teenagers do not understand the basics of conception or how to prevent pregnancy. As long as this continues, thousands more of them will die in childbirth or backstreet abortions every year. Nurse Fullah and her colleagues may have beaten Ebola, but their battle against Sierra Leone's teen pregnancy epidemic has only begun.For more information about Save The Children's Every Last Child campaign or to donate, click here.**Read more: Banning *Abortion* Doesn't Actually Reduce Abortion Rates at All**
Susan's Bay in Sierra Leone.
Women at a market in downtown Freetown.
Nurse Aminata Fullah in Susan's Bay after a day of outreach work.
