Midwives in Kirima are a busy lot because their services are highly required and appreciated.
Expectant mothers rely on them to deliver babies at home because they cannot access then nearest health centre which is several kilometres away. Efforts by Bahati Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to get a health centre in this region is underway.
The search for medical attention in this area is challenging because most roads are dilapidated and very few vehicles ply it. The sight of pregnant women being pushed on motorbikes heading to the health centre about 17 kilometres away is not a rare sight.
Recently an expectant mother was forced to deliver along the stretch before she could get to the hospital. The baby delivered by the bush was named “Wanjira”, for one born by the roadside.
Naomi Njeri, commonly known as Mama Waithera, says the midwives are few than the number of women giving birth.
“We have adapted to these problems. As women, we lack privacy as some are forced to deliver their babies on the way to hospitals located across the ridge. I have been called many times in the middle of the night to go and help an expectant mother to deliver a baby at home,” she says.
She adds: “I am forced to carry all the equipment I use for delivery because you cannot tell where you will meet an expectant mother ready to deliver. I have on several occasions helped fellow women deliver at home which is not healthy bearing in mind nowadays HIV infection chances are high. That is why I have to arm myself with the necessary equipment at all times.”
Kirima chief David Kamau Thuo says plans are there to make life easy for women in the area.
He is calling on well-wishers and the county government to consider the construction of at least a dispensary in the area.
Thuo added, “If this is not prioritised, Kirima women will continue suffering especially during delivery of their babies.”