As the world marked the International Women's Day, the story of Mama Pauline Parkei, 84, a renowned traditional birth attendant (TBA) in Olasiti, Ntulele and Suswa areas of Narok East subcounty, cannot go untold.
We meet Mama Pauline at Olasiti health centre attending to a young woman who had just given birth to a bouncing baby girl, after she had rushed her to the hospital in the wee hours of the night.
The medics at the health centre seem comfortable with the old woman attending to the patient in the delivery room.
When she is finished attending to her patient, she comes walking majestically towards our direction with a gentle smile on her face. At the first glance, you would guess she is in her mid-50s, until she shows you her national identification card that proves she was born in the early 1940s.
During the interview, she receives numerous phone calls from women in labour who want her help.
Mama Pauline says she has been a midwife for more than 30 years, moving from house to house helping mothers give birth.
So talented is she that she can detect the sex of the unborn child and confirm how old the foetus is, by placing her finger on the mother’s tummy.
“I can easily tell whether the unborn baby is a boy or girl. I have done this for many years and I have never been wrong,” she says.
However, Mama Pauline confesses that there are numerous challenges she faces in her course of duty, among them, lack of gloves for protection while carrying out delivery, lack of enough water and over bleeding that sometimes compromises the health of the mothers.
Other times, she is forced to walk for kilometres to get to her client’s home, if the client cannot afford to pay for a motorbike.
“I do not mind whether someone pays for my transport or not, because I believe God has given me this talent to help my fellow women. Everyone who calls for help, I make sure I give my best,” she says.
It was, therefore, a relief for her when an NGO called Anglican Development Services introduced a programmes to train TBAs on how to conduct safe delivery. The organisation sensitised them on the need to rush the women to nearby hospitals when they are in labour.
“We have been enlightened on the need to refer the women to the hospitals so that in case they have major complications, they can get help. This has made our work easier as women get specialised treatment,” she says.
However, for those women who do not make it to the hospital, owing to the long distances; she has been trained on how to handle such a case with the protection of gloves, unlike before where she would use bare hands.
Mama Pauline, who has already become a brand in her community, travels from village to village sensitising women to visit the anti-natal and post-natal clinics to improve their health and that of their children.
She is well known to medics in the local hospitals and most of the time when she arrives with a patient, she is allowed in the delivery room to assist the medics.
The mother of 14 children says her husband, who died in 2022 at the age of 102 years, was her strong pillar as he encouraged her to continue with her talent and passion.
When asked if she has trained anyone to continue with her legacy, Mama Pauline says she is mentoring her daughters-in-law.
Her last born son, Milton Parkei, says his mother is always busy attending to pregnant women who come to consult her on matters of their pregnancy. In case of complications, she has the knowledge of which herbs to use.
“I believe that my mother has a special talent. Many people call her for help and she ensures that she attends to everyone. Despite the mobility challenges, my mother never ignores anyone,” he says.
Evalyne Segendo says she was helped deliver four children safely by Mama Pauline.
“She is a renowned mid-wife in this area, every time we call her for help, she responds promptly. Sometimes we do not even pay a shilling,” she says.
Margaret Koilel, who is also a midwife, says she has learnt a lot of skills from Mama Pauline.
The reformed female genital mutilation cutter says she abandoned the practice after receiving training from USAID-funded New Partnerships Initiative.
“Girls who have undergone FGM tend to bleed more and take time to heal compared to those who have not undergone the cut. Though the practice was rampant in the Maa community before, it is slowly dying because of its negative effects and strict government policies,” she says.
Olasit AIC health centre clinical officer Pion Julius explains how ADS project has helped improve hospital deliveries.
Before, he says, there were zero hospital births recorded. However, the trend has changed since the programme was introduced as the hospital records more than 20 births per month.
The officer recognises the great role that Mama Pauline is playing in the society to advise mothers to visit a health facility for both antenatal and post-natal clinics, as well as assisting them when they are in labour.
“The programme was key in sensitising TBAs on hospital deliveries. Currently, we have a rising number of hospital deliveries as the community perception is changing,” he says.
The medic called for more programmes that will continue sensitising the residents on immunisation for children.