Kirinyaga County Government has opened a 21-bed capacity maternity ward at South Ngariama Health Centre, which is a big relief to mothers and newborns.
The facility is a great milestone towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage goals for Kirinyaga.
During the launch, Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru noted that accessible and affordable maternal and neonatal services would ensure that babies are not delivered at home, which in turn would reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.
“The 21-bed capacity will particularly be of great benefit to around 530 women of childbearing age from the area who will receive skilled delivery, antenatal, postnatal, as well as mother and child health services. They will also be accorded timely and appropriate referral services when need arises,” Waiguru said.
She said maternity has brought great relief to mothers in the far-flung Murinduko Ward, who have now been saved from travelling long distances in search of maternity services. Residents requiring access to critical health emergency services had to either travel to Kerugoya Town or neighbouring Embu Couty.
Governor Waiguru added that to further improve the delivery of mother and child healthcare services, the county government has introduced an M-Mama emergency programme that would enable expectant mothers to digitally seek free transportation services to hospitals for emergency services through an emergency hotline number.
“The county has started enrolling women of childbearing age into the programme that seeks to swiftly transport pregnant women and newborns facing complications to appropriate healthcare facilities,” she said.
South Ngariama Health Centre serves a population of about 7,000 people from Morgan, Ikulungu, Itangi, Kadawa, Miatuini, Makuti, and Kiumbu villages.
Waiguru noted that apart from developing the infrastructure, her administration is empowering about 1,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) through training, after which they would be issued basic medical kits and enlisted for a monthly stipend to ease their operations.
She noted that CHPs played a critical role in reducing the disease burden and would greatly help in educating Kirinyaga residents on dealing with lifestyle diseases which are prevalent in the county.
By Mutai Kipngetich
