For over a decade, Ms Milka Kaparo and Ms Elizabeth Nasipa have been assisting expectant mothers to deliver at home.
They are among hundreds of renowned traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in Laikipia North Sub-county and their services have been in high demand.
Recently, the two were among 95 women who graduated as traditional birth companions (TBCs) after a three-day training courtesy of the Ministry of Health in Kimanjo village.
Ms Kaparo says that a majority of the women who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) are afraid of delivering their newborns in modern hospitals and prefer traditional midwives.
“In some instances, skilled birth attendants in hospitals use knives and scissors to ensure that babies are delivered safely and with ease. Many women who underwent FGM are still stigmatised and afraid to deliver in hospitals,” she says.
Ms Nasipa acknowledges that more women lose their lives or that of their babies while delivering at home compared to those who deliver in hospitals.
“In hospitals, emergency cases are handled professionally and maternal deaths are averted. Deaths in manyattas [traditional homesteads] are caused by lack of skilled care. We are often unable to control excessive bleeding,” Ms Nasipa says.
The 95 TBCs are now engaged in a campaign to educate locals as well as to woo more expectant mothers to give birth in hospitals instead of at home.
Apart from receiving certificates during their graduation ceremony held at Kimanjo Level Four Hospital, each of the traditional midwives was gifted a goat for every mother they encouraged to attend antenatal clinics and deliver safely in healthcare facilities.
The goat-for-delivery initiative, rolled out by Laikipia County First Lady Maria Mbeneka, is an incentive to tap more midwives as partners in the fight against maternal deaths.
Over the years, the government has been discouraging TBAs and encouraging expectant women to deliver in healthcare facilities where they are assisted by skilled birth attendants.
“We have taken that role of giving a goat as an incentive to traditional birth attendants for every mother they take to a healthcare facility for safe delivery. There are some women who have each received 10 goats and this is encouraging,” Ms Mbeneka says.
“Previously, we have had low numbers [of hospital births] in Laikipia North but this programme has had remarkable success. We want our mothers and babies to get quality healthcare,” she adds.
Ms Mbeneka has also been donating a “mama kit incentive” in the county’s 84 healthcare facilities, which comprises a basin and a bag containing essentials for both mothers and newborns.
“Through these incentives, we have increased hospital deliveries from 42 percent to 75 percent,” Ms Mbeneka says.
Dr Josephine Ohas, the acting director of preventive and promotive health in the county, says the monthly target of 16 deliveries at Kimanjo Level Four Hospital has been surpassed since the beginning of this year.
“We have seen a rise in terms of the numbers of children who are born here as well as those who get fully vaccinated. Any country is judged by maternal and child health,” Ms Ohas says.
