Africa-Press – Kenya. The Ministry of Health reaffirmed its commitment to work with counties and communities in reducing deaths among pregnant women.
Health CS Susan Wafula acknowledged that despite a lot of effort and investment, women still die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
She spoke on Thursday when she inaugurated a new maternity wing at MP Shah Hospital.
She noted that severe bleeding and infections mostly after childbirth, high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications from labour and childbirth, and abortion complications account for nearly 75 per cent of all maternal deaths.
“We have stopped asking ourselves “why do women die?’ because we know ‘why women die’,” she said.
“Babies whose mothers die at childbirth have minimal chances of living to see their 1st birthday. This has led to concerted efforts to reduce maternal deaths and have healthy babies,” the CS said.
She noted that the country has made investments in a bid to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of reducing maternal mortality and neonatal mortality to less than 70 maternal deaths/100,000 live births and less than 12 neonatal deaths/1000 live births by the year 2030.
Besides the investments in infrastructure, technology, and training of midwives, the ministry has spearheaded streamlining of policies and encouraging innovations toward improving maternal and newborn outcomes.
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