Volunteer health workers and the introduction of a community centre in Mandera County is lowering maternal mortality rates as more women give birth in health facilities. The county has, for a long time, set the record for having one of the highest maternal mortality rates at 3,795 deaths per 100,000 live births, way higher than Kenya’s average maternal mortality rate of 448 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to data from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Fatula Abdulahi, a disabled mother on her ninth pregnancy, made a decision to visit the health centre after talking to a community health worker. Volunteer community health workers are therefore a welcome addition in the war against maternal and infant deaths. Nevertheless, one challenge lingers – most pregnant women now attend ante-natal clinics, but that does not translate into all of them delivering at the health facility.

Source: Daily Nation August 01, 2017 09:45 UTC