Fight against maternal mortality in Baringo County has received a major boost after a non-governmental organization called Dandelion Africa donated maternal health equipment to all its seven sub counties.
Speaking during the handing over of the equipment at the Governor’s office in Kabarnet town on Thursday, the organizations programs manager, Ruth Nderitu, stated that the tools which includes a complete Mama Natalie Birthing Simulators, IEC Materials, essential maternal emergency commodities and indicator tracking charts will go a long way to further reducing the numbers in the region with a mortality rate of 30 mothers in every 100,000.
Nderitu stated that they were keen in supplementing the county government efforts in improving the livelihoods and health outcomes of the local communities through the maternal infant health award programme which has also seen 96 health care workers trained on Emergency Obstetric and newborn care (EmONC).
“We were able to support each sub county with a dummy equipment so that even when the health care provider continues with their work, they are able to do mentorship to others,” she said.
The official said that she was optimistic that Baringo County will reach a level where mothers are able to be referred to in a timely manner to reduce complications likely to cause maternal mortalities.
Governor Benjamin Cheboi lauded the organization for their noble initiative to support the health sector especially on maternal and child health.
He stated that his administration will further engage them to see to it that more healthcare workers in all the dispensaries receive training on how to handle mothers during delivery.
Cheboi encouraged mothers from the region to deliver at health facilities where they can access skilled health care personnel.
“We do not want to see a situation where our mothers go to traditional birth attendants who have got limited skills in delivery,” said the county boss.
During the ceremony, the organization announced that they will be conducting the next set of EmONC training classes in March this year to capacity build more health care workers from the county.
By Benson Kelio and Joshua Kibet