Options donates supplies and equipment to improve maternal and newborn care in Kenya

The materials will be distributed to 35 high volume health facilities throughout the county, boosting the quality and quantity of health services provided to pregnant women, new mothers and their infants.

The donated items will complement and accelerate the support that the Maternal and Newborn Improvement (MANI) project provides to the Bungoma County Department of Health. Health workers helped identify the items needed by mapping gaps at the facilities and identifying priority items that would have the biggest impact. The items include machines to sterilize surgical equipment, bins to segregate medical waste, baby weighing scales, ward screens for privacy, resuscitation masks and bags, laboratory reagents, and many others. The availability of these materials will improve the capacity of health workers to offer essential services, including antenatal, delivery and post-natal care, and to manage obstetric emergencies.

The event was attended by Bungoma County Governor, H.E. Kenneth Lusaka and Hon. Stephen Kokonya, Bungoma County Executive Committee Member for Health, with the support of the MANI project.

Speaking at the event, Nicole Sijenyi Fulton, Team Leader of the MANI project said:

“We are thrilled to partner with the Bungoma County Department of Health to transform the health of women and newborns. What you can see here today is a consignment of materials that will save many lives. What may be less visible is the work we have done behind the scenes since 2015 – with county leaders, facility managers, and community members – to encourage women to access services, and to ensure that facilities are able to offer the best quality of services. Today we are pleased to hand over this consignment valued at approximately KES 30m. We thank the county leadership for its clear and unwavering commitment to the health of our women and newborns”.

The MANI project is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) as part of DFID’s strategic investment in maternal and newborn survival in Kenya. The project has been working in Bungoma since 2015, focusing on strengthening the health system to deliver high quality maternal health services, and enabling women to access services where and when they are required.