Home deliveries fuelling mother, child deaths in West Pokot

Home deliveries and delay by pregnant mothers to go to health facilities are contributing to many maternal and child deaths in West Pokot County.

Safe motherhood initiatives such as the provision of free maternity services are still underutilised. Many women from remote areas give birth at home, while some take time to reach health centres for help.

Over 65 per cent of women in North Pokot do not deliver in hospital because of cultural practices, according to health officials. Kacheliba Sub-County Hospital superintendent Solomon Tukei said most women prefer traditional birth attendants.

“We are sensitising women to the importance of delivering in hospital. I'm urging mothers from this community to deliver in hospitals as the government waived maternity costs. The community is migrant and regular movement in search of pasture makes it difficult for them to attend clinics.”

He observed that the government will support health systems because locals' medical needs are high.

“Our county has up-scaled facilities, equipped health centres and improved infrastructure for specialists to use and improve health. We should be on the frontline of promoting safe motherhood and child health in remote places,” noted Dr Tukei.

Medical insurance cover

“We encourage residents to register with NHIF (National Hospital Insurance Fund) so that they can seek quality medical services when need arises. Most pastoral communities prefer traditional help because it’s less expensive. The ministry is coming up with a plan to ensure everybody is insured. This will help residents stop balancing between going to hospital and staying at home.”

According to Health and Sanitation executive Christine Apokoreng, women in remote areas face many problems during delivery. She called on them to embrace and visit hospitals to avert maternal and child deaths.

Ms Apokoreng said home deliveries are unsafe and attributed fatal cases to antenatal bleeding, obstructed labour worsened by FGM, and foetal distress, among other complications. "The poor road network, communication network and long distance to health facilities complicate the matter further."

Ms Apokoreng spoke to Nation.Africa at her office in Kapenguria. “Many decide to deliver at home with the help of traditional midwives and develop complications resulting in death,” she said.

Antenatal care

She called for collective responsibility in sensitising residents to the benefits of antenatal care, hospital delivery, proper nutrition and child spacing. "We are thinking of offering incentives for mothers who go for antenatal visits as well as delivering within a hospital.”

Ms Apokoreng further appealed to residents to shun retrogressive cultural practices and allow women to deliver in hospital to reduce child mortality. She said only 35 per cent of women from the region attend health facilities for pregnancy checkups and delivery.

“Women should embrace clinic. Our mothers, sisters and wives report to hospital very late after being managed at home, dispensary or health centre and when they realise the situation has become complicated, they rush to the referral facility where very minimal can be done in a very short period,” she said.

County Health Director Norbert Abuya encouraged women to visit health facilities where they can deliver safely with professional help. “Mothers should not fear because in hospitals, we have experts and they are sure of getting professional help,” he said.

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