A total of 342 children have died at birth at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital in the last six months. This is an average of 57 neonatal deaths monthly, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Minister Musalia Mudavadi. Neonatal death is when a baby dies in the first hours or few days of life. While issuing a ministerial statement in Parliament, Musalia said since January 2011 to July, the facility had 11,221 new births and 342 deaths. He said in January, 1,600 new deliveries and 45 deaths were recorded. In February, there were 1,343 new deliveries and 43 deaths while in March 1,649 births and 46 deaths were recorded.
The minister said in April there were 1,452 new deliveries and 52 deaths while in May there were 1,767 new deliveries and 52 deaths. In June, the hospital recorded 1,777 new births and 48 deaths while in July 1,633 births and 51 deaths were recorded. He said at national level, neonatal mortality ratio is 31 per 1,000 live births as per Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2000-2009 while at Pumwani Maternity the ratio is 30 per 1,000 live births. “The hospital is performing much better than the perceptions tend to say,” Musalia said.
He described the Pumwani Maternity Hospital was the third busiest Maternity Hospital in Africa and the largest in the country and admitted that it was facing various challenges including shortage of staff and equipment. “Average of 50 – 60 babies are delivered each day with very limited equipment and under staffing of doctors and nurses,” said Musalia. He said it has 354 obstetric beds and 144 baby cots. He explained that the hospital has 9 medical doctors against an establishment of 25 doctors and 180 nurses against an establishment of 250 nurses.
Musalia further said the hospital has two theatres for caesarean cases instead of 4 theaters saying the deficiency was posing a big challenge to the staff and the hospital. He said he has already appointed a board to address the challenges and improve service delivery at the facility. He also said that recommendations of a taskforce which had been appointed in April by the Town Clerk had been implemented.
They included ensuring senior management possess managerial skills. Also recommended was that the human resource department to ensure independence of officers and avoid officers in same department reporting to difference heads. The task force also recommended that proper procurement procedures as enshrined in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 be strictly adhered to.
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