Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS) report shows that cases of stillbirths are highest among pregnancies of women belonging to the 40-49 age bracket.
Stillbirths and early infant deaths within the first seven days of life accounted for the overall perinatal mortality rate in the report.
In Kenya, according to the report, the stillbirth rate is 15 stillbirths per 1,000 pregnancies of 28 or more weeks’ duration.
The report showed that perinatal mortality was higher among women aged 40-49 as compared to that of other age groups.
"The perinatal mortality rate is higher among pregnancies of women age 40–49 (55 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies) than pregnancies among other age groups (38 deaths or fewer per 1,000 pregnancies)," the report showed.
The report also showed that the highest perinatal mortality rates were recorded in Wajir (76 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies), Mombasa (57 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies) Siaya (54 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies), Murang’a (51 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies), and Kisumu (47 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies) counties.
The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2022 KDHS) was implemented by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other stakeholders.
Data was collected from February 17 to July 31, 2022.
The sample for the 2022 KDHS report was drawn from the Kenya Household Master Sample Frame (K-HMSF).
The sample size was computed at 42,300 households, with 25 households selected per cluster, which resulted in 1,692 clusters spread across the country, 1,026 clusters in rural areas, and 666 in urban areas.
The survey was done through a questionnaire where they used the household questionnaire, the woman’s questionnaire, the man’s questionnaire, and the biomarker questionnaire.
