Kenya is taking aggressive action to accelerate the reduction of preventable maternal and newborn deaths across the country.
Following a direct policy mandate from President William Ruto, the Ministry of Health and leadership from county governments are moving swiftly to establish 10 comprehensive maternal and newborn health facilities in regions bearing the highest burden.
Health Cabinet Secretary Hon. Aden Duale recently hosted key county leadership led by Council of Governors Health Committee Chairperson and Mombasa Governor H.E. Abdullswamad Nassir for high-level bilateral deliberations aimed at translating national health directives into immediate action.
The meeting brought together prominent leaders including Governors H.E. Anyang’ Nyong’o of Kisumu and H.E. Cecily Mbarire of Embu, alongside key ministry officials and medical advisors, to establish seamless national-county coordination ahead of groundbreaking scheduled for September.
Supported by a KES 4.4 billion grant from the Amsons Group through the “Mama na Mtoto Kwanza initiative, this ambitious infrastructure project complements the national Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE)” programme.
The 250-bed specialised facilities will be strategically built across Nairobi, Bomet, Kwale, Mombasa, Garissa, Kisumu, Embu, Nakuru, West Pokot, and Uasin Gishu. These locations were carefully selected following a comprehensive mapping of 26 counties that currently account for nearly 60 percent of all maternal deaths in Kenya, ensuring that resources directly target areas of greatest need in line with World Health Organization benchmarks.
Designed to deliver an integrated continuum of care, each center will consolidate critical services under one roof. Mothers will have access to unified antenatal and postnatal care, dedicated labor and recovery suites, emergency obstetric care, and specialized post-Caesarean recovery wards.
For critical cases, each facility will feature fully equipped operating theatres, Maternal Intensive Care Units, and state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) to guarantee immediate life-saving interventions for newborns.
To ensure these state-of-the-art medical hubs are fully supported by skilled personnel, the workforce is being rapidly expanded under the EWENE initiative.
Training has already been completed for 900 healthcare workers in advanced obstetric care and another 900 in comprehensive newborn care. To further strengthen frontline capacity, the ongoing recruitment of 5,000 nurses and midwives will deploy crucial medical staff to communities where they are needed most.
Financial barriers to quality maternal healthcare are being simultaneously addressed alongside physical infrastructure. An additional KES 4 billion is being channelled through the Social Health Authority to subsidize maternal deliveries at Level 2 and Level 3 primary care facilities nationwide.
By combining infrastructure development, widespread workforce training, and targeted healthcare financing, Kenya is setting a transformative benchmark for universal health coverage and paving the way to eliminate preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
