The Department of Health Makueni in collaboration with Think Well and Jacaranda Health ( non-governmental organisations) have launched a maternal information system to save the lives of mothers and their newborns.
Speaking during the launch in Makueni county the Deputy Country Director of Jacaranda Health Job Makoyo said the partnership is between them and the three counties of Kisii, Mombasa and Makueni.
According to Makoyo, the partnership marks a piloting programme of other 22 counties in the country that have agreed to collect and act on information relating to maternal health.
So far the data platform has seen more than 90,000 mothers enrol and acquire health attention through health workers sending SMS to their phones, responding to and even calling when a mother has complications.
This has seen a great percentage attend timely antenatal clinics reducing the risk of complications during pregnancy time.
"Most mothers don't understand some of the dangerous signs during their pregnancy where daily someone has a severe headache, swelling of legs and bleeding which is the main course of maternal death," quoted Makoyo.
He said that as an organisation they are ready to ensure their efforts in monitoring these delicate mothers will improve health systems in these three counties.
Kisii and Mombasa joined the program a year ago and they have made a tremendous impact.
According to the Executive Member of Committee in Makueni Paul Musila, in 2023, out of the 21,000 mothers who delivered in all health facilities in Makueni, 11 mothers lost their lives.
This was a drop from the previous year in 2022 when 21 mothers in Makueni lost their lives.
Gladies Amiga, Kisii Chief Officer Health stated that in the year 2023, 23 mothers died during birth a drop from 2022 when 30 women died while bringing new life to Earth.
According to Amiga, the catchment population dropped from 177 per cent to 100 per cent a move that has been steered by frequent Antenatal clinics in the 9 referral hospitals and offering free ambulance services to expectant mothers across Kisii county.
Kadhijah Shikelly, Chief Officer Mombasa said that the mortality rate has fallen from 55 deaths to 24 after joining Think Well and Jacaranda and they are even advocating for a more positive impact of less than 10.
After benchmarking with Makueni Referral Hospital, Shikelly said that they shall emulate the technique of Makueni in the distribution of the SMS to achieve the great number that turns up daily for the ANC clinic.
Akoyo applauded Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr for prioritising health by hiring and paying medics in time to ensure that mothers have access to quality healthcare.
He emphasized the capacity building of the health workers to attain the skills that will see the Country be free of mortality deaths where as an organisation they have already trained 100 on the basics of handling mothers.
According to health data the mortality rate in the country currently stands at 21%: out of every 1000 children born 21 die before they attain a month.
Additionally, the agency is training Community Health Promoters and clinicians in an attempt to mitigate adverse causes of death of mothers and newborns.
Makueni Governor Mutula Jnr said it is a life and death matter for any mother to bring a new life into existence.
He called for more effort to be put into the use of data to track the root cause of what hails a certain geographical area to be able to find a solution for saving lives for mothers and infants.
