Trans Nzoia County is facing a crisis of high maternal and child mortality rates.
Despite government and healthcare providers’ efforts to encourage community members to seek medical services at health facilities, the county continues to witness preventable deaths.
According to Anne Kipsuto, Programmes coordinator for USAID AMPATH Uzima, the county has lost over 20 women to pregnancy and childbirth complications since January, while approximately 800 children have not survived to see their 28th day of life.
“We have been urging the members of the public to seek medical services in the health facilities, but we still face challenges,” Kipsuto said during the Trans Nzoia county health RAMNCAH sensitization meeting on standards and quality and improvement of care held at a kitale Hotel.
The meeting, sponsored by USAID AMPTH Uzima, highlighted the need for optimizing the quality of care provided to the community. Kipsuto emphasized the importance of achieving the desired health outcomes for individuals and populations.
Data from both Trans Nzoia County and the country as a whole reveal several preventable causes of maternal mortality, including postpartum hemorrhage, antepartum hemorrhage, preeclampsia and eclampsia, obstructed labor, and fractured uterus.
For newborn deaths, the leading preventable causes include sepsis, prematurity, asphyxia, sepsis, diarrhea, malnutrition, and pneumonia.
Kenya has committed to various global commitments to reduce maternal and newborn mortality, including the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality and the Every Newborn Action Plan.
Kipsuto urged the county to strive towards achieving the global targets of 90pc coverage for fourth antenatal care, 90pc coverage for skilled delivery attendance, and 80pc coverage for postnatal care.
She also emphasized the importance of ensuring that 65pc of level two and above facilities have SIPAP machines and that 85pc of facilities are eMONC compliant.
“We need to ensure that 65pc of women of reproductive age have access to information and counseling to make informed and empowered decisions,” Kipsuto said.
Buluma, the County immunization programmes coordinator, highlighted the importance of quality of care, emphasizing the WHO’s eight quality standards divided into health systems and quality of care. The quality of care standards include provision of care, client experience, evidence-based care for preconception care and antenatal care, safe obstetric anesthesia and surgery, and community engagement.
“WHO defines quality of care under several domains, and we again define quality of care under seven domains,” Buluma said. “The first one is safe, being safe is avoiding harm; quality of care should also be effective, meaning providing services best to scientific knowledge to all who could benefit.”
The meeting concluded with a call to action for all stakeholders to work together to improve maternal and child health outcomes in Trans Nzoia County.
