Chilling stories there!!!

A few weeks back a lawyer gave birth to 'a bouncing baby boy' at the Nairobi Hospital. Unfortunately she did not survive the delivery. I was later told by a friend of her family that she underwent a C-Section and it was seemingly not done properly as she bled to death.

However, it is hard to blame hospitals for maternal deaths as in most cases the women are admitted by their own doctors. In a place like the Nairobi Hospital and Aga Khan most people I know have been admitted by their own doctors their with the hospitals only providing the facilities and support staff.

My advise to those considering deliveries is to have their own Obstetrician-Gynecologist. Forget about a Gynecologist only. You need an Obstetrician and you can get doctors who are both. When we got our Elderling for example it was way before the EDD and deep in the night so it was hard getting our Obs-Gyn. The hospital (actually the midwives) asked if they could call any other doctor who was available and which they did but fortunately our doc arrived just in time (he later told me that he lives about 2 minutes away from the hospital).

My friend was at Nairobi Hospital.

Though there are great doctors out there,there are some spoiling it for the good ones.My advice for any mother to be is always do a background check on any one you are going to trust with your life.And for any fathers out there, be an active part of the whole process.

The audited number of maternal deaths in Kenya in 2009 were 3,705. That means close to 4,000 pregnant women, carry their child to term (or 28 weeks) and end up dying in the process of giving birth to the child.

It is shocking too to read the figures on the number of fresh still births i.e. the number of children that die during child birth. 7,479! 7,479 women carry their child to term (or 28 weeks), go into a hospital to deliver and they come out empty handed!

In Kenya, only 555,632 out of 1,653,985 deliveries are conducted by a skilled health attendant in a health facility.

Reversing the Trends
The Second National Health Sector Strategic Plan
ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN 5
July 2009–June 2010
The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation and the Ministry of Medical Services

whatever figure we have, it is too high.

standard newspaper 10/03/2011:
"At least 21 women die daily from child-birth related complications in Kenya."

Seriously? Think about the families left without a mother.