By Rose Hennessy | Operations Manager
Thank you so much for your support of this project which brings together the best of Irish and Kenyan support to create stronger health systems and better outcomes for the communities in Kenya.
Did you know that this year Brighter Communities Worldwide are celebrating a 20 year anniversary? Back in 2002 less than 10% of mothers delivered their babies in health facilities. The majority of babies were born at home. The baby would have had a 1 in 9 chance of celebrating their 5th birthday because at that time many mothers died at home in childbirth. Co-founder, Maria Kidney, shared her thoughts on this as part of the keynote speech at our fundraising Kenya Ball on November 12th. She says she remembers stories shared - mothers were dying, babies were dying - and the incredible loss they endured and hardship they faced was heart breaking for community and nursing staff alike. The nurses told her of their many challenges – lack of equipment, the lack of power, lack of water. And when a mother dies, the impact on a family and the entire community is enormous. The women in the community also told of her of their challenges – the poor roads, cost and availability of transport. For example in the village of Ndubusat there was one vehicle in the morning and one in the evening and if a woman went into labour at any other time she had to give birth at home or be carried on foot by her neighbours to the nearest health facility which was 19km away.
Over the years with the programmes we have delivered, things have changed for the better and today, a baby born in Londiani will have a much higher chance of being born safely – now over 50% of mothers deliver in health facilities. And the chance of that baby celebrating their 5th birthday has increased to 1 in 20 with their mother also having a greater chance of surviving. These stats are better than in 2002 but not good enough – there is much more to be done. We continue to deliver community education around mother and child health, support 30 outreach clinics per month bringing health care services like mother and child clinics closer to households and help build capacity of hospital staff and health workers.
The partnership link is currently focusing on renovations to the New Born Unit at Londiani sub-county hospital. During November, Mayo University Hospital has focused on supporting this with several fundraisers. We want to thank you for your donations and especially thank the participants in the Westport Sea to Summit event on November 12th and the hospital staff, friends and family who undertook 5K walks on Giving Tuesday.
Thank you for your donations and thank you to all involved in the partnership for your energy and enthusiasm over the last month in raising funds in support of the mothers and babies in Kenya.
By Rose Hennessy | Brighter Communities Worldwide
By Rose Hennessy | Office Manager
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