The Moore Prize 

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2023 Shortlist

The Moore Prize 2023 Winner for Human Rights Writing 

Belly Woman: Birth, Blood & Ebola - The Untold Story by Benjamin Black 

Belly Woman is a unique work combining investigative reporting and advocacy.  A young doctor’s harrowing account of his experience in helping pregnant women give birth during an Ebola epidemic and Covid-19 pandemic. His book is set in Sierra Leone, 2014-2020. In 2014, when the author arrived, Sierra Leone was ranked the country with the highest death rate of pregnant women in the world.  Dr. Black was forced to make impossible decisions on the maternity ward, facing moral dilemmas in the treatment centres , Belly Woman shines a light on an important story that has rarely surfaced on the literary radar screen.

Author Benjamin Oren Black is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in London and a specialist advisor to international aid organisations.  Benjamin also teaches medical teams around the world on improving sexual and reproductive healthcare to the most vulnerable people in the most challenging of circumstances.