Editor's Review

According to the report, 80% of expectant mothers in Kirinyaga county attend at least four antenatal clinics towards the delivery time.

Statistics from Medical Services, Public Health, and Sanitation show that deaths of infants in Kirinyaga County have gone down from 22% in 2013 to about 8%.c 

A section of medics from the County has hailed Governor Anne Waiguru’s administration for the interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in the county.  

Among the measures Waiguru’s administration has taken include expansion, improvement, and equipping of health facilities, expansion and equipping of a New Born Unit (NBU), capacity building of health workers, and strengthening of community health systems. 

The County Executive Committee Member of Health, George Karoki, said that the aim was to reduce all preventable neonatal deaths by ensuring that all expectant mothers receive antenatal care and deliver in hospital.

According to Karoki, 80% of expectant mothers in the county attend at least four antenatal clinics towards the delivery time.

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“The NBU at the hospital can only be compared to one in the high-end private hospitals and is the best in the region,” he stated.  

Infant Mortality in Kirinyaga County Goes Down From 22% in 2013 to About 8% 

The NBU has modern equipment such as incubators, CPAP machines, Phototherapy machines, fluid pumps, oxygen splitters, light meters, radiant warmers, oxygen concentrators, sanction and resuscitating machines among others. 

Further, statistics show that cases of mothers dying while giving birth have reduced to the current average of 60 deaths per 100,000 mothers against the national rate of 414 deaths in every 100,000 cases.   

Waiguru has stressed on the optimization of community health programs to strengthen care coordination by connecting expectant mothers with the available healthcare and social support systems.

“To achieve this, the county government has deployed 1,205 Community Health Promoters who are fully equipped with knowledge and medical kits to offer basic services to people in the villages. They maintain a register of expectant mothers within their allocated households with the aim of checking on them to ensure they are doing well and that they attend their antenatal clinics accordingly,” remarked Waiguru.