Hope as more women opt for safer hospital births

A mother and her newborn baby. Hospital births rose to 90.1 per cent of registered national deliveries in 2015, up from 83.4 per cent the previous year. PHOTO | FILE 

By STELLAR MURUMBA, smurumba@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Government campaign bears fruit as more than 90 per cent of mothers give birth in health facilities.

Giving birth outside hospital is a risky gamble, especially in cases where expectant women run into unforeseen complicati

Out-of-hospital births tend to involve less specialised intervention like Caesarean section, leaving women and the unborn at high risk of injury or fatality should complications arise.

Luckily for Kenya more women are now opting for safer births in hospitals, latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

In 2015 just about 9.9 per cent of all registered births in Kenya took place at home down from 16.6 per cent the previous year, according to the Economic Survey 2016.

Hospital births rose to 90.1 per cent of registered national deliveries in 2015, up from 83.4 per cent the previous year, with authorities attributing it to safety campaigns and cost waivers by the government.

“Cost is a non-issue now since the introduction of free maternity services in 2013. In the case of distance, some home births happen when a mother does not know her due date hence opting for the nearest option,” Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri says.

Under the free maternity care initiative health centres across the country receive Sh2,500 per delivery, Level 4 and 5 hospitals get Sh5,000, and referral hospitals like the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Sh17,500.

Most counties in 2015 registered hospital births of more than 90 per cent, indicating progress in the campaign on safer birth.

Nairobi, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Mombasa, Embu, Garissa, Meru, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Siaya, and Nyamira are among counties that recorded the highest number of hospital births in 2015.

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Other top performers were Homa Bay, Kisumu, Siaya, Kajiado, Nakuru, Baringo, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Machakos.

Some counties such as Tana River, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok and Bomet however recorded low child births in hospital in 2015, raising concern over safety of newborns.

“Marsabit, Tana River and Wajir counties recorded relatively high rates of over 40 per cent of births registered at home,” the newly released Economic Survey 2016 says.

Bomet County, surprisingly, witnessed a significant increase in total number of births during the review period and a worrying drop of mothers delivering in health facilities.

In 2013, the County recorded the lowest number of total births (at 26,245) during the same period with 78.5 per cent recorded in health facilities while 5,653 were recorded homebirths