Stronger health through Irish & Kenyan partnership

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 5^th 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 12^th.  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 5^th 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.

‘The COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts have widened and deepened inequalities tipping more people into food insecurity’.  This was a key message marking World Breast Feeding Week in Kenya August 1st to 7th.

Breast feeding has been adversely impacted by the pandemic because over stretched health systems have led to a deterioration in breast feeding support from health workers, misinformation discouraged breast feeding when COVID-19 was suspected and physical distancing and lock downs meant parents did not have a source of support and information from family contacts or community peer support groups. In many cases, targeted advertising scared parents into formula feeding instead of breast feeding.

Parental support for breast feeding is vital as breast milk provides food security to infants from the very beginning of life contributing to food security for the whole family.  All the more important right now as drought and rising prices threatens food supplies for families across Kenya.

Last week, the staff team in Kenya provided health talks on breast feeding to address these issues. During the talks, they encouraged mothers to breast feed their babies exclusively for six months to give their babies the best nutritional start in life. They shared information with mothers on how to hold the baby when breastfeeding and what constitutes a good diet for the mother. The talked about how mothers who are in employment and are not with their babies for the whole day can express their milk and taught them the process and how to store the milk.

Breast Feeding week is an annual event but this year in response to the impact of COVID-19, Brighter Communities Worldwide in partnership with the Ministry of Health delivered the health talks in parts of the county that are hard to reach and do not have permanent health facilities. The mothers were happy to have such knowledge since most mothers from remote areas introduce babies to other foods early and so it was of great help to them to learn the real benefits of six months of breast milk only.

The event was open to both mothers and fathers because the father can support the mother emotionally and can also feed the expressed milk to the baby in the absence of the mother. Most men do not attend such talks because of the cultural belief that this is ‘women’s business’ but weeks like this help generate discussion and raise awareness across the community.

Your support makes all the difference in supporting events like this as part of our maternal and new-born health programme. Thank you! Please feel welcome to share this report with your circle of friends and family - every single donation makes a difference.