Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua watches as a newborn baby is being attended to at the Machakos Level 5 Hospital. [Photo: Andrew Mbuva/ the-star.co.ke]
A lot has happened in the maternal health sector in many regions since 2013, when county governments started operating in Kenya.
However, it has not been easy for many Kenyans to shift focus from the central government-controlled health care policy to county governments now being in charge of the function.
Although county governments are independent in their operations, they have to depend on funding from the central government, through the National Treasury.
The two levels of government have often blamed each other when problems in the health sector such as strikes by nurses and doctors arise.
In the past two years, Hivisasa — with support from the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) — has been doing a special coverage of the state of maternal healthcare in selected counties.
The results, which are available online to the public, show that progress is being made, although there is a lot more that needs to be done.
In some areas, such as Garissa, women are yet to fully embrace the work of professional healthcare providers.
Giving birth at home has been leading to complications, but now that the county government has helped equip local hospitals, leaders have been pushing the women to get the professional help of nurses and doctors.
In areas such as Thika Sub-County in Kiambu where awareness about maternal healthcare is high, the capacity of public healthcare is often overstretched, with women who are giving birth sharing beds.
This calls for equipping hospitals with more facilities and empowering local health centers to offer safe deliveries, so that women don’t rush to the main county hospital.
The other interesting finding from the coverage is that traditional midwives, who were often seen as standing in the way of women seeking help in hospitals, can be good agents in referring the expectant women to local hospitals.
A study by the University of Mexico found that in Yatta, Machakos County, traditional birth attendants had helped increase the number of prenatal care patients at a local healthcare facility.
For more findings, read the free booklet.