Saving Mothers has a longstanding partnership with the Kapenguria County Referral Hospital in West Pokot,
Kenya. There is an ongoing project called the Maternal Continuum of Care Program which seeks to promote
prenatal care and hospital deliveries in the area and improve maternal mortality and birth complications. A
hallmark of this program is training local providers in ultrasound, clinical protocols, and surgical procedures,
including IUD placement, as well as periodic in person trips to provide more in-depth surgical interventions and
training.
On this trip, we will expand our partnership to include the newly established Shalom Springs Hospital in West Pokot and will on train our partner doctors on laparoscopic equipment and procedures. This will allow us to provide more efficient, life saving care to rural West Pokot and its neighboring regions.
This project serves women and infants in West Pokot, Kenya. This population has a low rate of healthcare
usage both due to barriers in accessing care and scarcity of care available. There is a high rate of home birth
that often results in poor outcomes for both mother and child and by supporting the existing healthcare
resources we can make a meaningful impact in the lives and health of these patients.
This project is ongoing and has already seen improvement in the prenatal care utilization, increase in hospital
deliveries and decreases in neonatal mortality. This trip specifically will focus on educating local healthcare
workers on safety protocols, providing clinical training and simulation, and providing pro bono surgical
interventions to patients with complications of childbirth. Perceived impact is an increased understanding and ability to complete laparoscopic procedures.
We successfully completed our first surgical camp at Shalom Springs Hospital - our new local partnership in West Pokot. We completed close to 40 surgeries pro bono. We also trained Shalom Springs Hospital in using laparoscopic equipment and it is now the first hospital in the region with this kind of equipment. We're looking forward to building on this work and creating a full training program so that this surgical technique can be offered year round.
