Hospitals record rise in pregnant mother visits

By Winnie Lelei

Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive to waive maternity fees for women in public hospitals has led to influx of patients seeking the service.

At Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, the number of expectant women has doubled. According to hospital director John Kibosia, about 112 women have benefited from the waiver in a span of four days.

“About 97 of women we have assisted have had normal delivery while 15 of them through caesarian section free-of-charge,” said Kibosia.

Dr Kibosia reiterated that the hospital is committed to implementing Uhuru’s directive, adding that the initiative was bound to drastically reduce maternal deaths and other complications after birth. Only 40 per cent of expectant mothers in Kenya deliver at certified health facilities. This explains why maternal deaths are still high.

According to Kibosia, the hospital is preparing for rise in the number of expectant mothers.

“We have already started training more nurses and building capacities with other local health facilities to ease pressure at the referral hospital,” said Kibosia.

The hospital has a bed capacity of 112 for mothers and babies. “We want to encourage residents, through the help of local doctors, to only refer complicated cases to MTRH since this is the sole mandate of this health facility,” Kibosia noted.

The hospital faces great challenge because cases of complicated deliveries may hinder admission of more maternity patients.

“Pregnancies with complications take about four to five hours before they are dealt with,” said Emily Birech, Head of Reproductive division.