Traditional birth attendants in Lamu county want a monthly stipend from the county government for their work.
Many of the attendants are renowned for their hands-on expertise when it comes to helping women through pregnancy and during childbirth.
The attendants come in handy in Lamu East, especially terror-prone areas on the border with Somalia.
Health facilities in those areas were vandalised and looted by al Shabaab militants years back.
Many women and their babies are alive thanks to the effort of the women who have tasked themselves with filling the gap left by the government.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Kiunga town on the Lamu-Somali border, the attendants said they also seek to be recognised for the role they play in the absence of the necessary medical facilities and staff.
Only Faza Hospital in Lamu East has a fully fitted maternity wing.
The hospital is, however, out of reach to many due to the fact that it is kilometres from most villages and islands.
In other areas, the attendants facilitate safe delivery by women who couldn’t make it to the hospital due to the distance.
Their spokesperson Shumi Mkunga, 60, said many times, they have to forego their own families and important events and activities to attend to pregnant women.
Mkunga said on many occasions, they are forced to accompany the women on long treks to the hospital where they also camp until the women deliver.
“It’s not an easy job but we do it and mostly for free. It’s a daunting job as you can never know when you will be needed and have to drop everything and go,” she said.
The attendants who have been trained by the health department on how to go about their work with a little professionalism say neither the county nor national government seems to appreciate their input.
Currently, they are not allowed to help women deliver but accompany them to the hospital for a medic to carry out the delivery.
However, Deputy Governor Abdulhakim Aboud has directed doctors and hospital staff not to bar the traditional attendants from assisting pregnant women and accompanying them to hospital.
“We don’t want medics despising them because they equally have a part they play up until the woman arrives in hospital,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie
