Pregnant women in Kisii County have been urged to attend for antenatal care clinics within 14 weeks of pregnancy.
According to Jared Gesami, Iyabe Sub county Level 4 Hospital clinical officer this will help in reducing both child and maternal mortality.
“The benefits of attending antenatal care classes are that complications can be identified early and interventions made, HIV positive mothers can be put on treatment to eliminate the chances of babies contracting HIV," said Gesami.
Gesami notes that currently 1.9 per cent of babies are getting HIV from their mothers.
"This is a huge achievement because it means that 98.1 per cent of babies born from HIV positive mothers are HIV negative due to the interventions made. However we are still experiencing a number of mothers who present themselves late in clinics and hospitals,” added Gesam.
Gesam said that many complications with pregnant women can be treated if noted on time.
He also added that as part of trying to reduce this, the department would like to call on pregnant mothers and those planning to have babies to visit their clinics regularly for check-up.
The check-up could save their lives and the lives of their children.