Pregnancy-related illnesses kill 16 daily

At least 16 women die daily due to pregnancy-related complications, new Government statistics reveal. This means the country cumulatively loses 5,840 women annually because of preventable causes.

The causes include malaria, hypertension and unsafe abortions, which are banned but go on unabated. Globally, one woman dies every minute from pregnancy-related complications, the statistics say.

Clean water

Other factors contributing to maternal deaths include lack of clean water, basic hygiene and sanitation. Other women die because they cannot access health services due to poor roads, transport and communication systems.

In some cases, there is low utilisation of health services because of lack of equipment, supplies and qualified staff.

Although the new figures represent a reduction from previous statistics, they nonetheless put the risk of dying in Kenya from pregnancy-related complications at 1:20, compared to 1:8,200 in the UK.

According to the latest Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2003, maternal mortality rates stand at 414 for every 100,000 live births.

A report released last week by the Planning ministry revealed that 44 per cent of pregnant women deliver without the help of health personnel.

Experts say pregnancy-related deaths are too high for a country that is experiencing economic growth.

According to Samuel Ogola, a senior programmes officer at the National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development, the high number of deaths related to pregnancies is cause for concern.

Also feared

He says it should be reduced by more than four times by 2015 in line with the millennium development goals.

Mr Ogola says no woman should die of complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth in the light of Government efforts.

It is also feared that a Government policy to scrap the automatic employment of health workers, including doctors, had contributed to the biting health crisis for pregnant mothers.

Early last year, the Government ruled out automatic employment of doctors, worsening an already critical situation arising from a similar directive for nurses and other medical staff.

Currently, there are about 6,000 doctors working in public health facilities, the majority of whom are deployed in urban centres.