Some 50 per cent of births at the KNH new born unit are premature.
The unit's assistant nurse Florence Ogongo said 40 per cent of the babies are from hospitals within Nairobi and its environs, while the remaining 10 per cent are referrals from other counties.
More than 500 babies are born at Kenyatta National Hospital every month.
“Because we are a national referral hospital we can not turn away babies. These are our future leaders and we must do everything to save them,” Ogongo said during an interview with The Star on Friday.
With the overwhelming numbers at numbers at facility the hospital only has 10 ten incubators to care for these babies whose survival rates are very critical.
“We use to have 20 incubators but 10 of them broke down. The cost of repairing them is also quite expensive.
"In such scenarios babies have to share an incubator and the risk of infection is also very high,” Ogongo added.
Premature babies are those that are born before the 37-week period.
They are at risk of long-term health problems that affect the brain, the lungs, hearing or vision.
"These babies need to be handled with utmost care. They require a lot of warmth. Once they are stable we remove from the incubator and ask the mother to conduct a method called Kangaroo mother care," Ogongo said.
This is involves infants being carried, usually by the mother, with skin-to-skin contact.
Kenya is among 15 countries with the highest number of premature deliveries globally.
Data from the Health ministry shows that 188,900 babies are born too soon. Out of this, 8,303 die annually.
This translates to 26 deaths daily.
In a bid to reduce the growing numbers at KNH, Ogongo is calling on the government to equip county hospitals with incubators and other necessary equipments that are critical for the care and survival of newborns.
“Apart from reducing the burden on Kenyatta, this plea will also help in empowering county hospitals to able to take good care of premature babies as their needs are different from those born at after 37 weeks.
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