Reports that ‘Linda Mama’ initiative, the free maternity programme for pregnant women, is on the verge of collapse are worrying.
Kenyan women’s access to maternal and infant health services was greatly boosted because of the initiative, which aims at providing free maternity services, including antenatal, delivery, as well as postnatal care for mothers and their new-born babies.
The programme came in handy for many mothers from poor backgrounds, who would otherwise not have had access to antenatal services.
Besides, such women would have given birth at home, often with the help of unskilled personnel, risking not only their own lives but those of their babies as well. Statistics show that within the first three years of its launch, the initiative benefitted over 2.3 million women.
The programme also plays a key role in the prevention of mother to child transmission for mothers who test positive for HIV. This in turn helps in the fight against the spread of the virus.
Research shows that women who access postnatal services are more likely to exclusively breastfeed their babies for the recommended six months after birth, mainly due to the availability of Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) information during the visits.
In fact, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by the World Health Organisation aims at creating a health care environment that supports breastfeeding.
With reduced chances for expert opinion on EBF at the community level, postnatal hospital visits provide the best opportunity for breastfeeding mothers to receive guidance on best breastfeeding practices.
Although maternal and infant healthcare is always a concern for many communities, the need for access is even higher now, due to the effects of Covid-19. On the one hand, many families have lost their sources of livelihood, leading to reduced capacity for access to maternal and infant health care.
As a result, it is likely that many expectant women and those delivered of babies are facing physical and emotional challenges. Access to free antenatal and postnatal services could provide mothers from such poor families the much-needed support, thus lowering the likelihood of postpartum depression.
On the other hand, the pandemic led to movement restrictions and prolonged school closures, making it harder for young girls to access sexual health care. Consequently, the country has experienced unprecedented increases in the monthly averages in teenage pregnancies.
These, coupled with the risks associated with such early pregnancies, make it critical for the government to intervene to ensure that the free maternity programme is sustained.
Dr Kiambati is a Communications trainer and consultant, Kenyatta University
