Training on safe childbirth planned

• Risks during delivery blamed on shortage of skilled staff

Health workers from district hospitals in Western Province are to undergo training on how to tackle the high number of birth-related complications among pregnant women.

A gynaecologist at the Kakamega Provincial Hospital, Dr Geoffrey Matete, on Sunday said a shortage of skilled birth attendants was exposing expectant mothers to risks.

He said the number of women who had developed fistula, a medical condition brought about by obstructed labour, had gone up in the province.

“Many of the pregnant women visit hospital for ante- natal clinics but fail to get services of a skilled birth attendant, leading to serious complications,” Dr Matete said.

He called for strengthening of safe motherhood programmes at health centres to minimise birth-related complications in women.

In Western, only 32 per cent of women who visited hospital for ante-natal clinics were attended to by skilled birth attendants.

Dr Matete said women from rural areas were worst affected by the condition because they lacked access to a doctor or nurse when in labour, resulting in complications.

The Division of Reproductive Health and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have planned a training workshop on obstetric fistula management targeting doctors and health workers from the district hospitals.

Dr Matete said several women who had developed fistula were neglected by their husbands unaware that the condition could be corrected through an operation.

The workshop will take place at the Kakamega Provincial Hospital from November 30 to December 13.

Fifty patients will undergo surgery to correct the condition at the hospital. Each patient will undergo an operation at cost of Sh10,000 and the medical bill will be paid by UNFPA.

Patients will undergo counselling sessions after the operations to enable them overcome the stigma associated with the condition.

“We are trying to reach as many patients with the condition as possible so that they can benefit from the free medical camp and be able to lead normal lives thereafter,” said Dr Matete during a briefing ahead of the planned training workshop.