There is a silver lining in Kenya’s fight against maternal and neonatal deaths, after the country became the first globally to adopt a five-year health initiative aimed at eliminating deaths among mothers and newborns.
The Sh11 billion (US$85 million) Healthy Birth Initiative will benefit 12 counties that account for more than 50 per cent of Kenya’s annual neonatal deaths.
The programme is funded by Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, and will complement investments by both national and county governments.
Nakuru will be the first county to benefit.
Other counties to benefit include Kakamega, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, Garissa, Kiambu, Kericho and West Pokot.
The counties were selected based on national health data showing they contribute to half of all neonatal deaths in the country.
The announcement was made during the ongoing International Maternal and Newborn Health Conference, 2026 held in Nairobi.
Kenya’s Director General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth, said the country’s neonatal mortality rate of 21 deaths per 1,000 live births is at a plateau and that the country has made progress but has not done enough.
The country is far from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing the neonatal mortality rate to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births.
“We have made this decision deliberately, we understand the burden we carry, and we need to see how to do things differently to move the needle towards the SDG target,” Amoth said during the conference.
Kenya loses about 92 newborns every day, translating to more than 33,000 every year, in addition to 21 mothers dying at birth due to birth-related complications.
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that babies die due to complications of being born before their time (prematurity), difficulty in breathing, and life-threatening blood infection in infants called sepsis.
The deaths, according to Amoth, are preventable and show “a gap in implementation”.
“We know what works, such as quality antenatal care, skilled delivery, timely newborn care and a strong referral system,” said the official.
Deborah Bossemeyer, Senior Vice President of Global Programs and Technical Excellence at Jhpiego, said the initiative is to ensure that what has been proven to work is put into practice.
“Normally, evidence is generated in one place, innovations are tested in another, investments flow elsewhere, and health systems are left connecting the dots,” said Ms Bossemeyer.
At the meeting, Nakuru County announced that it has already set aside US$1.2 million (Sh155 million), for maternal and newborn health.
Paul Nyachae, Jhpiego Kenya’s Country Director, said that there is an urgency for Kenya because there has been a lot of focus on maternal health, giving less attention to newborns.
“For every six mothers that we lose, there are another six newborns, and while focus has been on what the mother needs, we are yet to have the same intensity in what newborns need, such as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in every county,” Mr Nyachae said.
Counties with the highest maternal death rates in Kenya, according to data from the Ministry of Health, include Siaya, Tana River, Garissa, Isiolo, West Pokot, Homa Bay, Wajir, Kilifi, and Machakos.
Nationally, post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal deaths.
