Mama Lucy and Nyeri referral hospitals will receive equipment from a Sh6.8 billion project aimed at reducing newborn death rates.
The equipment includes syringe pumps, CPAP machines, back up power generators, oxygen concentrator and temperature monitors among others.
They will be used to help preterm babies to breathe and for quick diagnosis of complications.
The project dubbed NEST360° will also train the medical personnel to use the equipment and help reduce the number of babies who die in the first month.
The equipment is selected to address preventable illnesses such as breathing difficulties, jaundice, infection, and hypothermia.
The project, piloted in Nyeri on Wednesday, will officially be launched in Nairobi next month.
It is run by the Nairobi-based Center for Public Health and Development and Kenya Medical Research Institute’s Wellcome Trust Research Programme.
NEST360°will optimise the Ministry of Health’s newborn care programmes through the department of Family Health.
Speaking during the official roll-out in Nyeri, CPHD’s executive director Dr. Steve Adudans said high mortality rates are often because of inadequate expertise and equipment.
“We have seen and lived and talked about pre-term babies dying for lack of expertise and equipment. This should not be so.
"This intervention is a game-changer as we shall not only be supplying equipment but building capacity of the clinical and biomedical workforce," he said.
The goal of the project is to reduce the newborn mortality rate by 12 per 1,000 live births in the next decade.
Adudans said the initiative was birthed out of intensive research across medical facilities in Kenya.
“Equipment designed for high resource settings fails when it is used in African hospitals not only because of inconsistent power but also because of heat, humidity, dust, and lack of spare parts," he said.
He added, "Moreover, most hospitals in this region simply cannot afford to purchase existing newborn technologies. To save newborn lives, we need technologies that are effective, affordable, rugged, and easy to maintain."
The doctor said the equipment will address all these needs and significantly help reduce the mortality rates compared to existing alternatives.
“Out of every six machines procured for use around the world for Africa, only one is easy to maintain and are designed to withstand the heat, the dust, the humidity break down, we experience all year round," Adudans said.
Adudans said 85 per cent of newborn deaths in Africa could be prevented with simple technologies.
These technologies keep babies warm, help them breathe and help doctors diagnose and manage infections and other conditions.