A mother and her newborn baby. Photo|FILE
NATION MEDIA GROUP
By NJERI RUGENE
In Summary
- According to the report which was released on Wednesday, one million babies die each year on the day they are born, which translates to two babies dying every minute.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked as the worst country for mothers to reside as Finland was declared the best and the United States of America as having the highest first day death rates “than all other industrialised countries combined.
Kenya is one of the countries that have scored poorly in taking care of mothers and new born-babies.
A new report which ranks the well-being of mothers annually puts Kenya almost at the bottom of the list of countries surveyed.
The State of World’s Mothers Report, which highlights the challenges facing mothers and new born babies worldwide, ranks Kenya at position 156 out of 176.
According to the report which was released on
Wednesday, one million babies die each year on the day they are born,
which translates to two babies dying every minute.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked as the
worst country for mothers to reside as Finland was declared the best and
the United States of America as having the highest first day death
rates “than all other industrialised countries combined.’’
The report relates poor health of mothers in
Africa to the death of new born babies. Other factors are low use of
contraception, poor access to decent health care during pregnancy and a
severe shortage of health workers.
The maternal deaths ratio in Kenya currently
stands at 488 death per 100,000 live births while child mortality stands
at 115 per 1,000 live births.
During his inauguration, President Uhuru Kenyatta assured that the Jubilee government would prioritise maternal and child healthcare and pledged to scrap maternity fees in public hospitals in the first 100 days.
However, public hospital administrators welcomed
the pledge but said the directive should be supported with a framework
to implement it.
Last October, the National Council for Population and Development proposed that the average Kenyan should give birth to not more than three children. The current birth rate however stands at about five children.
On Wednesday, Save the Children-the
non-governmental organisation that compiled the report, urged leaders to
strengthen health systems to ensure mothers have greater access to
skilled birth attendants.
“In addition to providing more funding for maternal new born and health care programmes, more should be invested in frontline healthcare and community workers to reach the most vulnerable mothers and babies,’’ officials said.
Fighting the causes of new born deaths, gender inequality and malnutrition has also been identified as key in guarding against maternal and child mortality.
Niger, Mali, Somalia, Sierra Leone and DRC are
ranked as the worst countries for a mother to be while Nordic countries
Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands are at the top.
Issues of maternal and child health are expected
to feature prominently at a high profile global conference in Kuala
Lumpur Malaysia, dubbed Women Deliver 2013, which will also focus on
well-being of girls and women.
Two young Kenyan women Nebila Abdulmelik and Mitchelle Kimathi are among 100 youths from difference parts of the world selected by the organisers to attend the meeting which will bring together world leaders and rights advocates from 160 countries.
“Nebila and Mitchelle are two of Women Deliver’s 100 Young Leaders, a group of inspiring young people selected to receive scholarships to attend the conference where they will have the opportunity to learn more about these issues and connect with experts from around the world,’’ said Ms Stephanie Platis of an associate of the New York based Global Health Strategies.
Ms Kimathi, 25, focuses on youth on reduction of unwanted pregnancies and reduction of maternal mortality, as a programs officer at Planned Parenthood Global-Africa Region Office.
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