Amnesty International has raised alarm over Sierra Leone's appalling maternal health care record. One in eight women risk death during childbirth or pregnancy, the rights group has said.

The organisation called the one-in-eight number "one of the highest maternal death rates in the world" and has said the government must act to improve the situation.

Thousands of women bleed to death after giving birth, according to the organisation's statement. Less than one in five deliveries are carried out in health facilities.

Amnesty's Secretary General Irene Kahn said that, while additional money is desperately needed, the lives of women and girls would only be saved when the health system is properly managed and the government held to account.