• The units may also care for babies who are not as sick but need specialized nursing care.
• The new unit will have two ventilators, six flow Nasal cannula machines, seven phototherapy machines.
Image: JOHSON SAKAJA\TWITTER
Mothers in Mbagathi Hospital will no longer be in distress in the case of emergencies after childbirth.
Nairobi County is set to launch its first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Mbagathi on Monday.
The NICU has advanced technology and trained healthcare professionals to give special care to babies.
The units may also care for babies who are not as sick but need specialized nursing care.
The new unit will have two ventilators, six flow Nasal cannula machines, seven phototherapy machines, seven radiant warmers, seven suction pumps, eight syringe pumps and seven Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.
A CPAP is a machine that uses mild air pressure to keep breathing airways open while you sleep.
For the staff, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will have two consultants, three medical officers, 25 nurses, two Health care assistants and one nutritionist
In this year's budget, the Health, wellness and nutrition sector was the biggest winner in the proposed budget with an allocation of Sh8.1 billion.
In May, Nairobi Governor Sakaja visited Mbagathi Hospital which had recently been renovated and equipped with a newborn unit.
He rolled out an agenda to equip all hospitals in Nairobi with human resources, drugs and equipment to enhance service delivery to the residents.
While touring the facility, Sakaja emphasised his mission to transform the health sector and position it as one of his key deliverables as he promised Nairobians during his campaigns.
"I am committed to transforming and modernising county health facilities to provide affordable and quality healthcare services to Nairobi residents," he said.
"I am impressed with what we have done here so far even as we look forward to scaling up this unit in three more facilities in Nairobi."
Other achievements by City Hall on health include the recent launch of Nairobi's first public eye hospital.
The hospital is a relief to city residents as most patients in low-resource settings in Nairobi cannot afford specialised eye treatment or seek treatment when it is too late making it difficult to restore or save their sight.
The Sh12.7 million Mama Lucy Eye Hospital is located at Umoja 2, Embakasi West.
It has a 30-bed capacity, where patients can rest as well as be admitted during eye procedures.
Still, in November, Governor Sakaja flagged off medical equipment worth Sh58 million to Level Two, Three and Four hospitals.
He said the distribution of the equipment demonstrated his administration's commitment to fulfilling his manifesto of top-notch and better health services.
"Being here today affirms our commitment to provide top-notch health care to the people of Nairobi. Our administration has continued to ensure that our hospitals have medicines and medical equipment," Sakaja said.
The health commodities flagged off included medical equipment and medical supplies.
Others include delivery beds, digital portable X-ray machines, ECG machines, patient monitors, dialysis machines, vaccines, refrigerators, nebulizers and other key equipment aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment of diseases in health facilities.
The Governor noted that the equipment will reduce the burden on Nairobi's healthcare professionals in diagnosis and make the tasks more efficient and less physically taxing.