Wearing multi -colored dress with a white patch at her left collar, she spread a leso across her shoulder, to keep her body warm from the cold harsh weather of Nairobi.
As I moved towards her, she never seemed to notice. I greeted her “Habari ya leo mama” , to catch her attention but she didn’t notice my stretching hands towards her. I awaken her from her thoughts when I coughed. That is when she reached for my hand and answered “Mzuri..”
Mterengo explained how city life has tormented her, “ I left my rural home in Taita Taveta County few years ago to come to Nairobi in search of a better life , instead got the worst part of it. I had a miscarriage. It was bitter experience.’
The mother of 8 says she has been a victim of many city challenges and problems including poor access to health and medical services, poverty and domestic violence.
‘Some people are beasts. My former husband used to hit my belly when I was with child so that I could miscarry. I think it was the poverty that stressed him out and he vented out all the anger on me. May be it is because I was getting pregnant frequently and he realized that he could not fend for his ever growing family. Either way he divorced me and married a woman next door,’ adds the mother of 8.
Maternal and Child Mortality.
However, a new survey by ‘Save The Children’, reveals that maternal and child mortality rates are about 50 percent higher than the national average in the slums of Nairobi.
‘Everyday 17,000 children die before their fifth birthday .Increasingly, these preventable deaths are occurring in city slums where overcrowding and poor sanitation exist alongside sky scrapers and shopping malls,’ the research reveals.
Mterengo narrates two separate occasions where she experienced miscarriages.
‘I was due in one month and doctors told me the foetus was not moving. The medical staff had to save my life so they induced labour. I had a retained placenta and it took 3 hours for this complication to be resolved. In another incident, I miscarried when the pregnancy was 3 months. Since we use fly toilets in Kibera I decided to relieve myself in a tin. Then I noticed something rapture out of my vagina and I bled heavily.’
The research further reveals that in cities around the world Nairobi included, the poorest urban children are at least twice as likely to die as the richest urban children.
‘Just the other day a mother took her child to the neighbor so that the latter could help in babysitting. The mother laid the baby on the neighbor’s bed that was close to a bucket of water. The baby rolled into the bucket and drowned’ narrates Judith Atieno, a health worker in Kibera.
Insecurity and poor health services.
The women in Kibera complain severally of insecurity which they say hinders them from accessing medical services during late hours.
‘It was 1 a.m. I could not feel any foetal movement. Immediately I started bleeding. I could not go to a medical center since it was not safe and I had no cash. I had to bear with the pain for 4 hours and my stomach was swollen. Giving birth in public hospitals is free but I had to go to a private hospital because public medical practitioners were on strike. I had a still birth and I developed complications whereby I had a retained placenta,’ says Agnes Nafula.
Milka Awino, Mterengo’s neighbour explains the pains she went through during her pregnancy which ended in a still birth.
‘One week had passed after my Expected Date of Delivery and the baby was not coming. I experienced very sharp pains around my belly. When I went to the doctor he told me that I was not yet due. I went for another ante natal visit and they insisted I was not due. Finally I experienced labor pains one night and I could not go for help because it was not safe. I went to hospital in the morning and it was a still birth,’ says Milka Awino.
Children
in the slum population are also highly vulnerable in cities around the
world as the report says, the poorest urban children are twice likely to
die as the richest urban children.This goes against the general notion that those living in urban areas enjoy good lifestyle and health care.
‘My child has stunted growth. He looks feeble and weak. He also has asthma. It is hard to feed him a balanced diet because I do not earn enough money. I hand wash people’s clothes for kshs 200 ($2) and this is not enough even to pay rent. Sometimes I normally depend on those I work for to give me a meal. Many times we feed only once a day’ says Mterengo.
Countries Index report and mitigations.
Kenya’s ranking on the Mother’s Index report has improved slightly since last year when it was placed 143 out of 178. This year it is ranked 138 out of 179 countries.
However , countries with the least cases of maternal deaths include: Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.
Countries that are constantly in conflict have been listed as having the highest cases of maternal deaths: Somalia, DR Congo and Central African Republic.
In Bangladesh and India over half of the poor urban children are stunted.
The report continues to state that in Haiti, Jordan and Tanzania under 5 mortality rates are higher in urban areas than they are in rural areas.
‘All governments must follow the World Health Organization nutrition guidelines. Malnutrition consists of 45% of deaths of children under 5, leading to 3 million deaths annually. 800,000 deaths are reported in newly born babies,’ advises Save the Children.
The European Union has set aside sh. 160 million shillings (1$=sh.100) to launch child survival projects targeting the poor urban areas of Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi.
78,000 women and approximately 34,000 children have been targeted to improve nutrition services and increase modern family planning uptake.
‘All health indicators show that child nutrition and maternal health in Kenya’s city slums is below national average. It is vital we leave no woman and child behind,’ says Hjordis Ogendo, Head of Social Affairs and Environment Section, European Union in Kenya.
‘The Kenyan government should invest in empowering women in slums by giving them capital so that they start their own business ventures. When you empower a woman she will be able to feed her family and reduce cases of malnutrition,’ recommends David Githanga Chairman of Kenya Paediatric Association.
Further it is estimated that 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas with a third of them reside in slums , and it is projected to increase to 66%, with the largest increase projected in Africa.
2015 will be a pivotal year for maternal, new born and child survival after the launch of the post 2015 framework agenda of Sustainable Development Goals in New York and end of the Millennium Development Goals in December this year.
Given the rapid growth of the urban population this will determine the future of mothers and children in the globe and improve water and sanitation for the neglected slum population.
‘We must seize the opportunity that 2015 presents us, with the launch of Sustainable Development Goals, to set the world to end preventable deaths within a generation, ‘says Jasmine Whitbread CEO, Save The Children.
No comments:
Post a Comment