Siaya County is set to strengthen maternal and child healthcare services through the construction of a Sh300 million Mother-Baby Hospital Complex at the ongoing Siaya County Referral Hospital Level 5 expansion project.
The specialized facility, which is expected to serve approximately 50,000 beneficiaries annually, will focus on improving healthcare outcomes for expectant mothers, newborns, and children while contributing to the county’s efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
The project is expected to be financed through a grant under the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP), a World Bank-funded initiative supporting county governments under the Devolution Support Plan 2024-2028.
The Mother-Baby Complex is a strategic investment by the county government of Siaya aligned with Kenya’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda, which seeks to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services for all citizens.
Speaking on the planned facility, Siaya County Chief Nursing Officer and Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Godfrey Otieno said the Mother-Baby complex will have a bed capacity of 250 and will operate as a highly specialized healthcare unit dedicated to maternal and child health services.
“It is important to note that as much as the Mother-Baby Complex will be part of the new Level 5 hospital building, it is a hospital that will be able to stand on its own because it will operate under different healthcare professionals, but its concentration will be on the mother and baby,” said Otieno.
According to Count Otieno, the facility was designed to provide comprehensive healthcare services covering the entire continuum of maternal and newborn care.
It will house a Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), a newborn baby unit, maternity wards, postnatal wards, simulation rooms for training healthcare workers, and other specialized units aimed at improving the quality of care for mothers and infants.
Once completed, the Mother-Baby Hospital Complex is expected to provide modern, specialized, and patient-centered care for thousands of families while strengthening the county’s capacity to respond to maternal and newborn health challenges.
The KDSP II grant the county government has committed to the mother-baby complex forms part of broader investments being undertaken to modernize healthcare infrastructure and expand access to quality medical services, in line with national and global commitments toward achieving universal health coverage and improving health outcomes for mothers and children.
By Calvin Otieno
