New innovations to save lives of mothers and infants

Expectant Kenyan mothers can now breathe a sigh of relief after seven life-saving innovations were unveiled to prevent maternal and newborn deaths.

Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates said the innovations will save over two million women and children, noting that the practices can be delivered by midwives and birth attendants.

The seven innovations were designed by grantee researchers from countries like Kenya, Uganda , South Africa, Nigeria and other low and middle income countries,  according to Bill and Melinda.

“They have developed new interventions that could ensure more women have access to lifesaving care. Their work is opening up new—and, importantly, low-cost and mobile—avenues of preventing and treating deadly childbirth complications. When combined with better primary health care and more resilient health systems, the innovations have the potential to save many lives in low and middle income countries by 2030,” they highlighted.

According to the World Health Organizatio n(WHO), Kenya loses 295,000 women annually to preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

The innovations include interventions that can reduce postpartum haemorrhage, the number one cause of maternal death, by 60 per cent for less than Sh150 per package, Bifidobacteria (B. Infantis), a new probiotic supplement that, when given to an infant alongside breastmilk, combats malnutrition, multiple micronutrient supplements that boost survival rates for babies by helping replete nutrient stores in pregnant women and ensuring those vital nutrients are transferred to the baby,  and a new one-time infusion of IV iron for women that replenishes iron reserves during pregnancy, protecting against and treating anaemia, a condition that is both a cause and effect of postpartum haemorrhage and affects almost 37 per cent  of pregnant women.

The other interventions are antenatal corticosteroids, which are given to women who  give birth prematurely to accelerate foetal lung growth,, azithromycin, which reduces maternal infections during pregnancy and prevents infections from spiralling into sepsis—the cause of 23 per cent  of maternal deaths —   as well as  an AI enabled portable ultrasound that empowers nurses and midwives to monitor high-risk pregnancies to ensure that risks are diagnosed and addressed early.

The seventh annual Goalkeepers Report by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-authored by foundation co-chairs Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates highlights new data that shows the potential of scaling up global access to seven innovations and practices that address the leading causes of maternal and newborn deaths.

According to findings in the report, progress in reducing global maternal mortality has stalled since 2016 and in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya, death rates have risen steadily.

 “By making new innovations accessible to those who need them most, two million additional lives could be saved by 2030 and 6.4 million lives by 2040. That is two million families spared an unimaginable heartbreak—and two million more people who can shape and enrich our world,” Bill and Melinda say in a statement.

They acknowledge the global efforts between 2000 and 2015 that significantly improved the health of mothers and babies but point out that progress has stalled since Covid-19 pandemic hit. They also explain how the discovery of revolutionary information about maternal and child health in the last 10  years led to low-cost and easy-to-implement innovations and practices that prevent and treat deadly childbirth complications such as post-partum haemorrhaging, infections, and maternal anaemia while calling  for immediate action to help put the world back on track to achieve the global goal of cutting the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 out of 100,000 births and newborn mortality to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030.

“As is so often the case in global health, innovations aren’t making their way to the people who need them most—women in low-income countries, as well as Black and Indigenous women in high-income countries like the United States, who are dying at three times the rate of white women. That needs to change,” Melinda said.

“We have seen over and over again that when countries actually prioritise and invest in women’s health, they unleash a powerful engine for progress that can reduce poverty, advance gender equality, and build resilient economies,” she further highlighted.

“Over the past decade, the field of child health has advanced faster and farther than I thought I’d see in my lifetime,” said Bill Gates.

“If our delivery can keep pace with our learning—if researchers can continue developing new innovations and skilled health workers can get them to every mother and child who needs them—then more babies will survive those crucial first days.”

They further pointed out that across the world, nearly 800 women die in childbirth every day.

“Though deaths of children under five have continued to decline since the mid-2010s, the first month of a newborn’s life continues to be the most dangerous, accounting for almost half of all under-five deaths today. An estimated 74 per cent of child deaths happen during a baby’s first year,” they said while adding that halfway to the deadline for the sustainable development goals (SDGs), they have found that  on 18 indicators—from poverty to gender equality, education to food security, health to climate—the world is off track.

“It underscores the urgent need for action as well as a renewed global commitment to ensure a more equitable and safe future for all by 2030. For mothers and babies, having access to the quality health care they need to live long and healthy lives will require policy changes, political will, and more investment in women’s health and health care workers, including midwives.”

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