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Babies. Babies. Babies.

2026-04-14 · letter vlog · John · 5:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: Personal essay · tags: fundraising ask, self promotion, heavy topic

John celebrates the Maternal Center of Excellence delivering its 500th baby, tells how ambulances, fast C-sections and Sierra Leone's first NICU now save mothers and babies, credits Good Store as its biggest donor, plugs its Mother's Day box, and says the collaboration gives him hope.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The MCOE's 500th baby; John's love of babies; babies required of no one but safe for everyone; Sierra Leone 20 years ago

  • ★★★ John announces the Maternal Center of Excellence at Koidu Government Hospital has passed its first major milestone: its 500th baby delivered, in just a few months. — 00:00:00 · Maternal Center of Excellence, Koidu Government Hospital, Sierra Leone

  • ★★ John says nothing makes him happier than babies, little statements of hope in a broken world: loud, fussy and inept, but so cute that caring for them works on him. — 00:00:00

    “Little statements of hope in a broken world.”

  • ★★ Picking up Hank's point last week (week of 6 April 2026) that we are lucky to have problems because the alternative is nothingness, John says babies are certainly a problem. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Hank Green

  • ★★★ John's straightforward take on babies: having babies should be required of no one, but safe for everyone. — 00:00:29

    “having babies should be required of no one, but safe for everyone.”

  • ★★★ John says just 20 years ago Sierra Leone was the deadliest place in the world to give birth: mothers died of hemorrhage, preeclampsia and above all lack of safe emergency C-sections. — 00:00:29 · Sierra Leone, maternal death

00:00:58 — What a working maternal care system needs: Sia's ambulance ride and emergency C-section, decision-to-incision time, the NICU and training

  • ★★★ John says that is no longer the case: Sierra Leone's maternal mortality rate has dropped by 78%. — 00:00:58 · Sierra Leone, maternal death
  • ★★ John says a functioning maternal and child health system needs more than nurses, midwives and operating rooms: a woman with complications far away needs an ambulance. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John tells of Sia Jamisa, 33, a pregnant mother of three two hours from Koidu, who went to her local clinic to give birth but developed complications needing an emergency C-section. — 00:00:58 · Koidu Government Hospital, Maternal Center of Excellence
  • ★★ John recalls saying years earlier that a woman needing a C-section at home or a clinic usually found no ambulance, so her best chance was a long motorbike ride; he says that is starting to change. — 00:01:27 · first in: 2019-10-22, Why We're Donating $6,500,000
  • ★★ Joyce (quoted): Joyce Sinese, who oversees ambulance services for Kono District, says that for pregnant women every minute is very important. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John reveals a recent family emergency at home involved an ambulance ride; it was terrifying, and he is grateful to the EMS professionals for their calm and skill. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ John says that seven years ago Isata Dumbuya told him decision-to-incision time averaged 12 hours; now it is much faster thanks to safe, clean, well-staffed operating suites. — 00:02:26
  • ★ John notes that nurse midwife Isata Dumbuya was just named a Time Woman of the Year. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Scared and anxious, Sia was taken by ambulance to an available operating room and delivered a healthy baby boy by emergency C-section; mother and baby are doing great. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ John says the MCOE holds Sierra Leone's first NICU, already a critical site of care for premature infants: over 130 babies have received care there. — 00:02:55 · Maternal Center of Excellence, Sierra Leone
  • ★★ John says that as a teaching facility the MCOE is training nurses, midwives and doctors to spread what they learn across the country. — 00:02:55 · Maternal Center of Excellence

00:03:24 — Long-term problems demand long-term solutions: seven years of work are transforming care in Kono

00:03:53 — Good Store as the MCOE's biggest donor and its Mother's Day gift box

  • ★★★ John says Good Store, Hank's idea for a store giving 100% of profit to charity, has donated over $11.5 million, supporting everything from ambulance services to the NICU. — 00:03:53 · Good Store, Hank Green
  • ★★★ John asks viewers to buy Good Store's new $50 Mother's Day gift box (tea, a tea strainer, soap, chocolates, lip balm) to raise the donations further. — 00:03:53 · Good Store
  • ★★ John says the box is for moms, but Mother's Day is also a complicated holiday, so you can get it for anybody. — 00:04:23
  • ★ John says he got one for his best friend Chris, who loves chocolate, lip balm and candles. (playful) — 00:04:23
  • ★★ John wants to show love for his mom, who has made many sacrifices and, having two boys, has not often received Mother's Day presents. — 00:04:23 · Sydney Green
  • ★★ John says 100% of the box's profit goes to support moms and newborns in Kono District, Sierra Leone. — 00:04:23 · Good Store, Sierra Leone
  • ★★ John says that without Good Store the Maternal Center of Excellence might still be under construction and those 500 babies might have fared very differently. (hedged) — 00:04:52 · Good Store, Maternal Center of Excellence
  • ★★ John thanks Hank for his 'stupid idea' of a business that donates 100% of its profit to charity: a great stupid idea. (playful) — 00:04:52 · Hank Green, Good Store

00:05:21 — 500 babies give John hope; collaboration is our species' superpower; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says more mothers receiving dignified care gives him hope: when despair creeps in he is reminded that together we can do extraordinary things, though also catastrophic ones. — 00:05:21 · hope

  • ★★★ John calls collaboration our species' superpower, to be used carefully, and thanks Hank and Nerdfighteria for using it for good. — 00:05:21 · collective action, Nerdfighteria, Hank Green

    “Collaboration is our species' superpower”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Good Store · Maternal Center of Excellence · maternal death · Sierra Leone

Also: People: Chris Waters · Isata Dumbuya · Joyce · Sia · Sydney Green

Organizations: Koidu Government Hospital · Time

Concepts: Caesarean section · collective action · emergency medical services · hope · neonatal intensive care unit · Preterm birth

Places: Kono District

Events: Mother's Day

Only in the description or credits: Ministry of Health and Sanitation (Sierra Leone) · Partners In Health

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