New data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has offered several insights into the safest counties to give birth in Kenya.
Nairobi, Kisii, Kiambu, Kirinyaga and Nyeri emerge as the counties with the highest rates of childbirths in hospitals, the primary indicator of safe deliveries.
The 2015/16 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey saw women asked where their children aged under 5 years were delivered.
The 5 counties were the only ones which recorded above 74 percent of children being delivered in hospitals.
Mombasa, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Kisii and Nairobi recorded over 90 percent of all deliveries being assisted by trained health professionals.
[caption caption="Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi"]
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Kirinyaga had the lowest rate of home deliveries, with only 3.8 percent of children not born in hospitals.
Wajir, Mandera, Samburu and Marsabit had over 70 percent of children being born at home.
The proportion of children born in health facilities increased significantly from 39.1 percent in the 2005/06 report to 65.3 percent in the 2015/16 review.
Out-of-hospital deliveries leave mothers at a higher risk of injury or fatality in case complications arise.
Specialised interventions such as Caesarean sections are rare in such deliveries.
[caption caption="A nurse at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi checks on her patient after she delivered "]
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