Maternal health is still at grave risk

Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the post-partum period.

Maternal oral health has been shown to affect the well-being of both the expectant mother and the unborn child.

It encompasses the healthcare and dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

Access to quality sexual, reproductive and maternal health is, therefore, both a fundamental human right and a critical development issue.

The right to health cannot be achieved through direct services alone.

Large scale and sustainable change requires that we address underlying and systemic factors, including gender inequality, policy barriers and power imbalances that have an impact on health.

First, in prenatal care, it is recommended that expectant mothers receive at least four antenatal visits to check and monitor the health of mother and foetus.

Secondly, skilled birth attendance with emergency backup such as doctors, nurses and midwives is required to manage normal deliveries and detect the onset of complications.

Third, emergency obstetric care is meant to address the major causes of maternal death, which are haemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, hypertensive disorders and obstructed labour.

Lastly, during postnatal care, which is the six weeks following delivery, bleeding, sepsis and hypertensive disorders can occur.

Newborns are, therefore, extremely vulnerable in the period immediately after birth.

RURAL MOTHERS

An analysis on maternal healthcare services found out that women who live in rural areas, far away from healthcare facilities, were less likely to receive prenatal care than those who live in urban areas.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has moved to 43 counties, distributing mobile clinics through her Beyond Zero initiative, which is aimed at helping pregnant women on their way to hospital and reducing child mortality.

Providing good quality healthcare must be our collective responsibility.

But the elephant in the room is the cry by a nominated MCA in Embu County, that the region is yet to start benefiting from the services of the Beyond Zero mobile clinic donated eight months ago.

These mobile clinics have state-of-the-art theatre equipment to help pregnant women deliver safely and reduce child mortality.

The First Lady should send people to carry out an audit on the mobile clinics she has donated to the 43 counties, to see if they are performing practical functions.

Some counties have allocated money for fuel but the vehicles are not being used to rescue expectant mothers and reduce child mortality.

The Beyond zero initiative has attracted queen of pop Madonna, who pledged to work with the First Lady “in scaling up maternal and child health programmes” as well as initiatives against gender violence.

Madonna’s pledge came days after Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation expressed similar interest to partner with Beyond Zero, to ensure access to quality health for Kenyan women and children.

That is why the First Lady should audit to see how her donations in the Beyond Zero initiative to counties are being put to use, as the programme has now gone international.

Mrs Kenyatta has also started a scheme to refurbish county health centres countrywide with some international partners.

Counties should give her the support she needs for the sake of pregnant women and reducing child mortality in Kenya as this initiative is the only one of its kind in Africa.

The writer is an educationist, publisher, writer, consultant and motivational speaker; [email protected]