Upgraded maternity wing making pregnancy and delivery safer
A nurse checks on newborns in incubators at Homa Bay Teaching and Referral Hospital’s maternity ward.
What you need to know:
- Hospital records show that the number of women delivering at the facility doubled after rehabilitation of the maternity unit two months ago. Initially, at least 150 women delivered every month until December 2022.
- But when the refurbished unit started operating in February this year, the number of deliveries jumped to 300, with most mothers being referred from other facilities.
The death of a Form Four student at Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital in November last year exposed some of the gaps that are leading to high infant and maternal mortality at the facility and other public hospitals.
The student at Nyajanja Mixed Secondary School in Rangwe complained of severe abdominal pain after giving birth. She died an hour later due to postpartum-related complications.
After the incident, Homa Bay County government was accused of offering poor health services especially to expectant women; leading to high infant and maternal mortality rate.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, Kenya records 362 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. This is above the global target, which according to the Sustainable Development Goal (3) should be less than 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births.
Deaths during deliveries, including the student’s, made the county government under the leadership of Governor Gladys Wanga to make corrections in areas that were making women lose lives when giving birth.
Though enquiries into the exact cause of death of the student were not conclusive, it became an eye opener to mistakes committed in hospitals that lead to loss of lives.
Preliminary findings showed that the student’s blood pressure had dropped before she died.
According to the hospital’s CEO Peter Ogolla, it was established that medics delayed attending to her at the theatre as there were other women who were waiting to be attended to.
After the incident, Governor Wanga’s administration embarked on a project of restoring public confidence in maternal health services by refurbishing the maternity unit at the referral hospital. The Sh8 million refurbishment included enhancements to privacy sections, an increased bed capacity of 40, and two theatre rooms for minor and critical operations.
This has seen more pregnant women visiting the hospital unlike before. Hospital records show that the number of women delivering at the facility doubled after rehabilitation of the maternity unit two months ago. Initially, at least 150 women delivered every month until December 2022. But when the refurbished unit started operating in February this year, the number of deliveries jumped to 300, with most mothers being referred from other facilities.
Besides the hospital’s deplorable state, which sometimes drove patients away, there were other challenges. Ms Linda Awino, the nurse in charge of the new born unit, said patients would be asked to purchase supplies before being admitted.
“Expectant women had to buy gloves, syringes and other supplies before being admitted. This made the cost of delivery go high,” she says. Privacy was an alien concept as maternity wards were open rooms. Beds were old and there were no mosquito nets.
After rehabilitation, the county government bought new beds, installed curtains for privacy as well as painted the walls. The number of beds has been increased from 20 to 40.
When Healthy Nation team visited the maternity wing, Julia Akinyi, 27, was all smiles as she held her newborn baby. It was the first time the mother of three was delivering at a health facility. She gave birth to her other two children at home with the help of a traditional birth attendant. “This time round a neighbour advised me to deliver at the referral hospital, saying services had improved,” notes Akinyi.
Ms Wanga opened the refurbished maternity ward on May 11. “We are aiming at reducing infant and maternal mortality in the county while offering best care to our mothers who should deliver in a desirable place,” Ms Wanga said.
Hospital matron Caroline Adongo notes that medics are being monitored and any complain about their services can be reported to a toll free number before necessary action is taken against them.
“We also introduced competition among staf , where we reward the best performers. It makes all medics work towards the goal of becoming the winner.”
The hospital has introduced waivers for women from vulnerable backgrounds.
Ms Adongo says women living with any form of disability are also getting free services at the maternity ward. “We work with the department of social service which conducts background checks for patients in need of waiver,” she says.
