Nairobi county tops the list of the top 10 counties with high rates of preterm babies.
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that these counties account for 52 per cent of the total premature babies born in the country.
Nairobi has 5,338 babies born too soon.
Preterm birth is when a baby is born too early before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed.
Nakuru comes second with 2,815, Kiambu with 2,330 preterm births, Kilifi with 1,919 and Bungoma with 1,544.
Others include Kajiado with 1,424, Kisumu with 1,346, Mombasa with 1,303, Trans Nzoia with 1,071, Kakamega with 1,49 and Nyeri with 966 preterm babies.
The data shows that the rate of premature births in Kenya stands at 12 per cent and 13,300 children under the age of five die from direct premature complications.
“Some risk factors for preterm birth include delivering a premature baby in the past, being pregnant with multiples, tobacco use and substance abuse, and short time (less than 18 months) between pregnancies,” CDC says.
“Additionally, pregnancy complications can result in preterm birth because the baby has to be delivered early.”
Each year, an estimated 15 million babies are born too early across the globe translating to about one in 10 babies while about one million children die every year resulting from complications of preterm birth.
According to the online site Mayo Clinic, premature babies, especially those born very early, often have complicated medical problems.
The World Health Organisation says preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under five years of age, responsible for approximately one million deaths in 2015.
“Three-quarters of these deaths could be prevented with current, cost-effective interventions,” WHO says.
“Most preterm births happen spontaneously, but some are due to medical reasons such as infections, or other pregnancy complications that require early induction of labour or caesarean birth.”
