Kenya’s Mothers Shun Free Maternity Health Care

Thursday, July 11, 2013

NAIROBI , Jul 9 2013 (IPS) – It has been a month since the Kenyan government waived the maternity fee at public health facilities, but Millicent Awino is still one of the many expectant mothers in favour of a home birth.

“During childbirth my uterus comes out, a traditional birth attendant has the knowledge of how to push the uterus back into position, unlike at the hospital,” Awino tells IPS.

Alice Anyango, a traditional birth attendant from Nairobi’s Mathare slums, tells IPS: “The uterus should not be touched with hands as they do in hospital, hence damaging it. One should throw a pitcher of cold water at it and it will retreat back to position.”

But her treatment is not medically sound. Professor Joseph Karanja, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, dismisses the treatment. “Indeed there are cases where … the uterus can come out and it is a very serious situation.

Source: Inter Press Service (link opens in a new window)

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