Saving Mothers in Kenya

According to a 2015 CNN article Kenya is the most dangerous place in the world to be pregnant. Up to 83% of women in rural Kenya deliver their children at home. About 50% of Kenyan woman attend one prenatal visit. Distance and costly traveling inhibit women from visiting hospitals at all during their pregnancies.

One of the most alarming factors that effects women during pregnancy is female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM results in babies dying from asphyxia due to obstructions at the vaginal wall, and unfortunately most local providers are not properly trained in managing this complication.

Saving Mothers is collaborating with Health Right International to develop a continuum of care program designed to promote prenatal care-seeking and improve perceptions of facility-based maternal care in rural Kenya. Another important piece of this collaboration is the piloting a low-tech preterm birth indicator in this population. This allows health providers in Kenya to triage at-risk patients and ensure that they receive appropriate care. We are also working to train local providers on surgical procedures for pregnant women and women during any stage of delivery.

In March, Saving Mothers will be traveling to West Pokot, Kenya, where a team of health care professionals will be providing pro-bono uro-gynecological surgical care to women in dire need.