By J, KNA
The Nakuru County Executive for Health, Roselyn Mungai, wants ante natal care follow up at the community level strengthened to reduce maternal and perinatal deaths.
Mungai reiterated that saving mothers and babies was not just a clinical duty, but a leadership responsibility, requiring stronger referral systems, better equipped facilities, reliable commodities and practical mentorship for frontline teams.
She emphasized the need for community empowerment in the prevention of maternal deaths by enabling households identify early warning signs that will enable them make quick decisions.
The County Executive indicated that maternal survival begins in the community, hence strengthening community strategy, encouraging regular antenatal care follow-up and early decision-making at household level was critical.
She said that Nakuru County was strengthening the safety of mothers and newborns by turning every loss into a lesson and every lesson into action saying any death was a death too many.
In this regard, the County’s Department of Health Services convened a physical Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) review meeting, bringing together health workers and managers from across the county to reflect, learn and improve maternal and newborn outcomes.
The forum brought together a wide range of cadres including specialist obstetricians and gynecologists, doctors, midwives, sub-county health management teams, facility in-charges, reproductive health coordinators and community strategy focal persons.
MPDSR reviews are held weekly on virtual platforms, but every six months teams meet physically, using panel discussions to ensure every sub-county is heard and supported, driving accountability and service delivery improvements across Nakuru.
Child mortality in Nakuru County remains a critical health concern, with the under-five mortality rate reported at 41-51 deaths per 1,000 live births, while neonatal mortality is notably high at approximately 34–41.9 per 1,000 live births.
Among the key drivers include birth asphyxia, prematurity, low birth weight and malnutrition.
The county is actively addressing these issues through enhanced Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) meetings.
The county government is also focusing on strengthening referral systems, training Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and enforcing MPDSR protocols to improve survival rates.
The 2022 KDHS data indicated an under-5 mortality rate of 41–51 deaths per 1,000 live births, while neonatal data indicated a high neonatal mortality rate (NMR) of 34–41.9 per 1,000 live births, which is roughly double the national average.
The primary causes of child mortality were identified as birth asphyxia at 29 percent, premature births at 28.7 percent and low birth weight at 27.1 percent. Other contributing factors included complications from malnutrition, poorly maintained, overcrowded facilities and inadequate staff.
High parity, pregnancy-induced hypertension and low antenatal care (ANC) were also noted to have played a significant role in increasing the mortality rates, as well as socio-economic factors that included cultural practices, home deliveries and high poverty rates.