Maternal health has long been a challenging issue in Kenya, with some regions facing more challenges than others. The good news is that organizations and non-governmental organizations have stepped up to make a tangible impact, especially in the worst hit and often underserved areas.
In a recent interview with Karen Basiye – Safaricom’s Director of Sustainable Business and Social Impact – she discussed maternal health as one of M-Pesa Foundation’s biggest concerns because no woman should lose her life bringing life to the world. For maternal and newborn health, the foundation focuses countrywide with infrastructure improvement but has so far put in more work in some of the most challenging areas like Lamu and Samburu where it works with Governments, medical institutions, and implementing partners to address barriers to safe healthcare for expectant mothers.
In Samburu, for instance, cultural barriers prevent women from delivering in hospitals because husbands are reluctant to let their wives get services from male doctors. These are some of the unique challenges, and each area has a different set of them, hence the need to work not only on infrastructure and medical facilities but also on systemic issues with the help of Government systems.
M-Pesa Foundation’s approach is not to work in isolation but to engage the entire county. Over time, maternal and neonatal deaths in Samburu have decreased drastically, and the immunization of babies is up to 92%. This is also so especially because M-Pesa Foundation also uses technology to remind mothers about immunization dates in their mother tongue via text.
Lamu presens yet another set of challenges. Because of its geographical setup of remote islands and limited infrastructure between them, expectant mothers have to travel sometimes for more than 6 hours by boat to access referral healthcare facilities like King Fahad in Lamu island.
One very touching incident I’ve heard of was in an interview with Rita Okuthe, in which she told us about a 17-year-old girl from Mpeketoni who lost her first baby and her uterus in a harrowing ordeal looking for a hospital.
“She was in labour and had traveled two hours on a boda boda. By the time she got to the health center, her health and that of the child were in serious complications. The facility in Mpeketoni couldn’t help her and they needed to refer her to the main hospital in Lamu. She now had to get on a boat for two hours to Lamu, and she lost the child in the boat. By the time she got to Lamu, her womb was also in a mess, and they couldn’t deal with the problem. They sent her to Coast General Hospital in far-off Mombasa. We got her an ambulance, but in the end, she lost her womb. That was her first pregnancy, and she was only 17” – Rita Okuthe.
In response to the Lamu situation, M-Pesa Foundation and Safaricom Foundation donated a customized double twin-engine speedboat ambulance to get mothers to referral hospitals faster, and this has drastically cut the time they need to get urgent care. Additionally, the foundation has set up maternal units and maternal shelters in remote islands, reducing the need for women to travel long distances to referral facilities.
For infant health, M-Pesa Foundation also recognizes the shortage of pediatricians in these regions, and for this, they offer telemedicine in partnership with Gertrudes Hospital through the Daktari Smart program. Telemedicine allows doctors in remote areas to consult with those at Gertrudes and has cut the need for referral to far-off hospitals significantly. We visited Chemolingot Sub County Hospital in Baringo to see how telemedicine works and here is the story. So far, it has been implemented in Lamu, Baringo, Narok, Kilifi and Homa Bay.
For anything to be successful, one cannot work alone, and the foundation lies heavily on implementing partners like Uzazi Salama for maternal health. The foundation also relies on data from organizations such as Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the medical community to learn where to prioritize resources and efforts. This data-driven approach ensures that their strategies are based on real needs on the ground.
When selecting partners for their initiatives, M-Pesa Foundation issues an expression of interest and implementing partners apply. They then go through a rigorous vetting process to determine suitability based on their track record and existing budgets. This careful selection ensures that the foundation’s resources are geared for maximum impact.
With the success of Samburu and Lamu, M-Pesa Foundation aims to replicate these efforts in other counties, with a goal to revamp level 3 and 4 maternal units across Kenya into modern facilities. In the end, systems will be in place in all of Kenya for women to access the care they need during pregnancy, childbirth and for the growth of the children.
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