- Each pack will contain crucial items including sanitary towels, shawls, diapers, pajamas, soap and a basin.
- The initiative is part of Safaricom’s 20th anniversary celebrations.
Image: FILE
Some 6,000 pregnant mothers will benefit from a Sh25.2 million maternal, newborn and child health project funded by the M-Pesa Foundation.
The initiative, which is part of Safaricom’s 20th anniversary celebrations, will see women in 26 health facilities countrywide receive mother and baby packs
In a statement on Thursday, the foundation said each pack will contain crucial items, including sanitary towels, shawls, diapers, pajamas, soap and a basin. It will also contain a pictorial guide on breastfeeding and best infant care practices.
“We believe that every mother and newborn child deserve an equal chance of survival during the childbirth process. From our experience, we have seen that the mother and baby packs work in incentivising women to give birth in health facilities,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.
He added that the project will go a long way in reducing preventable maternal deaths.
“We believe that through this initiative, we will increase demand for hospital-based deliveries and greatly improve the quality of life for disadvantaged mothers and their babies,” Ndegwa said.
Government statistics indicate that Kenya loses at least 362 women for every 100,000 live births.
“The introduction of free maternity service has seen delivery under skilled care increase from 44 per cent to 62 per cent according to government estimates. However, these gains are likely to be rolled back with the current Covid-19 crisis,” the statement said.
Ndegwa said evidence shows since May, only a paltry three out of 10 women give birth in hospitals, pointing to a worrying trend that could morph into a crisis.
According to Public Health chief officer Aisha Abubakar, the virus has affected everyone but it has hit pregnant women harder since their immunity is already low.
She said some women fear going to hospital because they either fear testing or getting infected.
“They also feel they will have to wash hands, get their temperatures taken and so many procedures, which they feel take a lot of their time more than the normal process," she said.
Abubakar said pregnant women should be aware that the process is for their safety and, therefore, should attend their antenatal clinics.
In the past four years, a total of 45,904 stillbirths and 10,441 maternal deaths were reported, according to the Ministry of Health.
Nairobi leads other counties in the number of maternal deaths and stillbirths, with the county recording 134 maternal deaths and 1,045 stillbirths in 2018 alone.
Edited by Henry Makori