KENYA— Nyeri Town Health Centre will soon open the doors to its new 35-bed capacity maternity block, to serve the residents of the county with specialised maternity health care.
The maternity centre hosts antenatal and postnatal wards, a Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinic, a laboratory, consultation rooms, specialised rooms, delivery rooms, newborn unity, Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), nurse stations, offices, a kitchen, and laundry.
Speaking at the facility, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga said the maternity block is set to be fully operationalized in September after equipping and staffing are done.
Governor Kahiga encouraged Nyeri residents to utilise the state-of-the-art maternity block, being set up at the Nyeri Town Health Centre once it is completed.
Especially, expressing his gratitude to the key partner for their immense support in the planning, funding, and actualization of the project.
Moreover, he assured that the County Government of Nyeri would continually provide the necessary technical support in quality care.
The Governor lauded the team for the commendable job done without hitches, in a span of one year since the groundbreaking ceremony.
He further noted that his government will prioritise healthcare in the next five years, reiterating the importance of the maternity block that will decongest the Nyeri County Referral Hospital.
Governor Kahiga also noted that the Maternity centre would put a significant milestone towards achieving the County’s vision of ending maternal and neonatal deaths.
The maternity block is expected to serve a catchment population of over 30,000 people drawn from Majengo slums, Ngangarithi, Nyeri town, and its environs.
“Out of the nearly US$800,000 set aside for the project, approximately nearly US$0.5M will go towards construction and equipping of the maternity,” he said.
Part of the funds will go towards training the healthcare workers on reproductive, maternal and child health services.
Health partners to advance reproductive health in Kenya and Africa
The Governor acknowledged the facilitation from the Japanese Organisation for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) to bring the project to life.
JOICFP is an international non-profit organization active in the field of population, sexual and reproductive health, and rights, including family planning, maternal health and HIV/AIDS.
Essentially, the organization works to improve the health status of women, men and young people around the world.
During the signing ceremony in April, the chief international programme manager at the Japanese agency, Etsuko Yamaguchi said the project targeted young mothers from Kiawara and Majengo slums who opt for risky home deliveries.
“These young mothers risk their lives due to limited access to reproductive health services,” Yamaguchi said.
Yamaguchi further explained that JOICFP main aim was to promote sexual health not only for pregnant women in their 20s and 30s but also for teenagers and adolescents.
A 2021 report by the National Council on Population and Development on the adolescent situation in Kenya recorded 379,573 teenage pregnancies.
The findings also revealed that one in five Kenyan teenage girls between the ages of 10-19 years was a mother.
The fifth year of the five-year project titled “Protecting the Lives of Pregnant Women in Africa: a community-centred sustainable health promotion project” supported by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and implemented by JOICFP, started in 2022.
During the past four years, JOICFP supported activities in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia with a focus on training community people to sustainably provide SRH services in their area.
For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook.
