Newborns with birth defects

Medics in Kakamega have been left baffled by the high number of newborns with severe birth defects in the county.

Records show the county has reported about 800 cases in the last five years. In 2013, there were 256 cases reported and a year later, there were 196 cases.

On Wednesday, county director of medical services Arthur Andere disclosed that the county recorded 183 and 85 cases in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while in the last two months alone, three cases have been reported.

Experts have linked genetic abnormalities, failure by expectant mothers to attend ante-natal check-ups and use of self-prescribed drugs to severe malformations in newborns.

Other causes linked to birth defects include spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. Often, the affected babies die just moments after birth as a result of the health complications.

In Kenya, these defects, also known as congenital abnormalities, are difficult to detect during pregnancy. 

Kakamega chief officer for health services Brenda Makokha said Kenya lacks a proper data bank for such cases because many of them go unreported.