The anaemia threat among pregnant women in Kilifi

The condition is widespread in Kilifi County despite 94 % intervention by the Department of Health in the county.

In Kiwandani Dispensary Irene Kibibi, a mother of 5 attends a clinical routine with her youngest child, 7 months old.

She says that she has delivered all her children in health facilities due to her anaemic condition during pregnancy. She loses a lot of blood during childbirth.

She says her situation worsened when she was pregnant with her 5th child. She underwent a blood transfusion due to her low blood level. 

“The doctor has to add 3 pints because when I was delivering my situation was getting worse “she recalls. 

Kibibi says she experiences nausea when pregnant, hence keen on attending antenatal clinics religiously least her situation turns worse. 

Josephine Bahati, a mother of 4 children delivered her first child at home because at the time, transport from her home to the health facility was a challenge.

However things almost turned fatal as she had anemic symptoms during her pregnancy journey. 

Bahati had to abandon her job at a construction site because the condition, to avoid having pregnancy complications.

Rebecca Kosgey, a nurse at Kiwandani Dispensary says 200 to 300 pregnant women visit their facility in a month.

She says 80% of the women have anemia which is a common problem in the region. 

She adds that most women start their antenatals later in their pregnancy despite a recommendation of 8 antenatal visits. 

Kosgey says starting antenatal clinics late can have an impact on one’s pregnancy journey. 

This is emphasised by, Jesca Deche who is the officer in charge of reproductive health, immunization and nutrition in Kilifi County.

Deche anemia is rampant among pregnant women in Kilifi County, leading to loss of lives for mothers, babies or both.

Deche says though the trend is slowly decreasing, more needs to be done. 

Early preparations are put in place to avoid complications during pregnancy.

Because Kilifi is a vast county Deche says Community Health Promoters (CHP) have been of assistance in reaching remote villages.

“We work closely with community health promoters to ensure mothers visits health facilities as soon as they know they are expecting,” she says this has increased the number of pregnant women visiting health facilities.

Khadija Said is a CHP in Kiwandani area where she does awareness campaigns in villages to make sure mothers visit health facilities.

“We do house-to-house awareness to make sure they follow healthy guidelines to avoid complication and we even advise them on food to eat,” she says.

Kilifi is a semi-arid area and poverty has made some mothers unable to afford to have meals as expected.

However Said says they advise mother to eat what they can get as long as it is of nutritional value and the mother has a balance diet.

Although Kilifi has stepped up efforts to curb anemia, shortage of medics still remains a challenge.

According to WHO norms and standards a dispensary should at least have 4 nurses at any given time for a smooth running; however most of the facilities have 1 or 2 nurses which pose a challenge for the facilities.

At times burdening the staff and takes longer to serve the mothers who attend these facilities. In case of an emergency a referral is given and some mothers might find a reason not to deliver in health facilities or attended their antenatal clinics.

Kilifi County Executive Committee Member for Health Peter Mwarogo says they are working on these challenges to ensure they deliver the best services to these mothers and every person in the county.

He adds that already they are working in close collaboration with other stakeholders and partner in the county especially on health matters to ensure no life is lost in the process of giving life.