The Makueni government has made strides in improving reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health and nutrition in the county.
Makueni governor's wife Anita Mutula, who is also RMNCAH+N champion, said the county is implementing low-cost, effective, and scientifically proven high-impact interventions for the management of preterm and low birth weight babies.
She spoke on Friday at Mother and Child Hospital in Wote during World Prematurity Day celebrations.
"The department of health has been able to build capacity and train 25 healthcare workers, which has increased the number of facilities practicing kangaroo mother care from two in 2017 to six facilities now," Anita said.
The facilities include Makueni County Referral Hospital, Makindu, Sultan Hamud, Kibwezi, Mbooni, and Kilungu Subcounty Hospitals.
She said data from the six hospitals offering kangaroo mother care services shows that 10,323 live births were recorded at facilities between January and December 2022, of which 1,003 (9.7 per cent of all births) were preterm or low birth weight.
"Of these, 515 or 51.3 per cent were managed through kangaroo mother care and a total of 512 babies or 99.4 per cent of the babies lived and this success highlights the importance of simple, low-cost interventions like kangaroo mother care in ensuring survival," she noted.
Anita said she has identified 30 ward champions from among the community health promoters to take the messages deep into the communities.
"As RMNCAH+N champion to lead advocacy activities to improve the related indicators, I have identified 30 ward champions from among the community health promoters to take the messages deep into the communities, in line with the Ministry of Health approach of strengthening primary healthcare through revamping of community health strategy,” she said.
Anita lauded development partners for synergised efforts in supporting the government's mandate of ensuring every citizen has access to the highest attainable standard of health.
"As we celebrate World Prematurity Day, we recognise the roles played by our development partners who are represented here today. Your efforts have been synergistic in delivering the government mandate of ensuring every citizen has access to the highest attainable standard of health," she said.
According to the Ministry of Health, Kenya’s current neonatal mortality is 21 deaths per 1,000 live births, with an SDG target of reducing this to less than 12 deaths per 1000 live births by 2030. Makueni neonatal mortality rate stands at 26 per 1000 live births.
Preterm babies are born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed.
Kangaroo mother care prolongs continuous skin-to-skin contact between the mother and baby for between eight and 12 hours a day.