Expectant mothers from the Kiptangwanyi area of Gilgil Sub-County in Nakuru County have a reason to celebrate after the County Government, in partnership with World Vision and a Japanese firm, Shionogi and Company Limited, commissioned a Sh25 million maternity unit to boost maternal healthcare in the remote village.
The facility comes as a relief for expectant mothers who have been relying on Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital nearly 60 km away from the area.
Deputy Governor David Kones, who commissioned the facility, said the 24-bed maternity unit will help to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Gilgil Sub-County and neighbouring areas.
He explained that in Elementaita Ward, approximately 1,849 women receive antenatal services annually, with the number expected to increase with the availability of the new modern maternity unit, as the initiative aims at enhancing maternal and child health by improving healthcare services, reducing congestion, and cutting down on the long distances mothers travel for maternity care.
The Deputy Governor added that the new facility will provide prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, postnatal support, nutritional counselling, and mental health services to ensure safe deliveries and better maternal health outcomes.
“The county aims to reduce referrals to Level 4 and 5 hospitals by offering comprehensive maternity services at the ward level, allowing mothers to receive quality care closer to their homes,” said the Deputy Governor.
Kones said they were exploring further partnerships with the donors to integrate a Newborn and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) unit at the new facility to enhance neonatal care.
He stressed the importance of community awareness and partnerships with organisations, religious groups, and local leaders to address maternal health challenges, including education, nutrition, housing stability, and transportation.
County Executive Committee Member in Charge of Health Services Ms. Roselyn Mungai urged women in the county to use available facilities during childbirth to reduce mortality rates, saying that the County Government was expanding and equipping its maternity and newborn units to create spaces that promote the provision of quality care and better service to the growing number of expectant mothers.
According to Ms. Mungai, the devolved unit’s administration was optimistic that the ongoing improvement of the facilities will help reduce infant and maternal mortality ratios and also offer affordable maternity services.
She pointed out that enhancement of service delivery at Mother and Baby Units at Bondeni, Mirugi, Rhonda and Langa Langa Level 3 Hospitals was also aimed at decongesting the Margaret Kenyatta Mother-Baby Unit at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital (NTRH).
Ms. Mungai conceded that the Margaret Kenyatta Mother-Baby Unit was surging under the weight of deliveries, registering over a thousand births per month, adding that they were out to ensure all women were supported by sufficient and skilled health providers at the Level 3 health care facilities.
The CECM assured residents that the health department was also reducing delays in receipt of care by improving urgent and emergency referral systems, adding that Governor Susan Kihika’s administration will continue to invest heavily in the building and rehabilitation of hospitals to ensure they are capable of delivering world-class services.
“We have made a significant milestone towards achieving our vision of ending maternal and neonatal deaths in Nakuru County and we will focus on the efforts to decongest the County Referral Hospital to improve health services,” Mungai added.
The county’s mother-and-baby units at the Level 3 hospitals currently provide amenities including antenatal and postnatal wards, maternity and child health clinics, laboratories, consultation rooms, specialised clinics, a delivery room, nurse stations, offices, kitchens and laundries.
World Vision Operations Director Miriam Mbembe, representing the National Director, praised the collaboration with Nakuru County and urged residents to fully embrace and own the new maternity units and encouraged the local communities to make good use of the facilities.
By Esther Mwangi