Understanding NHIF’s Linda Mama initiative and its benefits to Kenyans

Every community in Kenya has certain tales of how treatments were conducted. At the centre of these tales are the traditional birth attendants (midwifes) who could brace the cold and other health risks to save two lives- the mother and the baby. Remote areas in this country may have known such people, who mostly comprise elderly women as the first and last resort in their remedy for maternal healthcare. Their efforts are laudable because a number of baby boomers and millenials born in 1940s to late 1980s may have been born in the hands of the midwives. It was a blessing having them. But owing to lack of facilities and proper medical procedures, success rate may have not been comparable to modern maternal healthcare.