By MN Reporter
Grace Akinyi a mid-wife from Kameji in Rongo constituency
Migori county government has been urged to bring on board traditional birth midwives to reduce the number of expectant mothers who deliver at home.
Maternal and Infant Survival Health Advancement Project (Maisha), a local NGO said 40 percent of women in Migori County still trust traditional birth attendants which put the lives of the mother and the child at risk.
Winnie Koima Maisha, Project Coordinator said they have launched a programme which targets traditional birth midwives spread in Suna East and Suna West sub counties to train them on identification of the danger signs during labour.
“We want traditional birth attendants to accept health facility as a way of reducing risks of mother and the child during delivery,” she said.
Koima said they seek to encourage traditional birth attendants to ensure women deliver in hospitals and encourage them to get visit clinics.
She said they also seek to discourage them from administering expectant mothers with herbs whenever they experience abdominal pain which may have side effects to mothers.
“We aim at empowering traditional birth midwives with information to make sound decision while on duty,” she said.
She said the women are drawn from Ogwedhi, Nyamaraga and God- Kweru locations areas with highest number of home delivery.
“We are emphasizing the importance of both antenatal and postnatal care to the lives of mother and the child,” she said.
However Grace Akinyi, a traditional mid wife from Kamejji village in Rongo constituency said health facility attendants are always unfriendly to them and expectant mothers which has seen their services being on high demand.
“What we want is recognition and appreciation,” she said.
Migori is identified due to its low intake of maternal health services compared to Nyeri County with outstanding 90 percent intake.
Margeret Ouru, a traditional mid-wife from Nyaburu village in Rongo
Maisha is a Canadian government sponsored organization which works in collaboration with Dedan Kimathi University in Nyeri County and the College of Rockies in Canada.
Akinyi said she personally she gave birth to all her six children at home due to long distance to the nearest health centre.
“I know the value of hospitals and always insist my clients to first visit a clinic and get a duly checked maternity booklet for both mother and child. Otherwise I never chase away any client,” she said.
Across the sub-county at Nyaburu village, Margaret Ouru says she got trained by a doctors but she still caries her work with 6 births in a month and over 20 in a year.
Like most traditional mid-wives, she says she often encourage pregnant mothers to seek medical health first and only attend to those with duly signed mother and child health booklet issued by government.
She says poor service by health department midwives, long distance to health centers, deep rooted culture and lack of modern solution to some pregnancy problems has made them indispensible.
According to the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) South Nyanza Coordinator Maurice Oduor, Migori has a high rate at 67.3 per cent, placing the county among top ten nationally.
This is caused by 53.4 per cent of women who never deliver in hospital and only 56.4 per cent visit a health centre more than four times during pregnancy or birth which places traditional birth attendants as key in reversing the worrying trend.
