Trans Nzoia crafts policy to tackle maternal deaths

Trans Nzoia drafts a five-year policy to tackle maternal deaths, teenage pregnancies and gaps in family planning. [Courtesy]

Trans Nzoia County is developing a five-year sexual and reproductive health policy to tackle maternal deaths, teenage pregnancies and gaps in access to family planning services.

The county loses between one and two mothers every month, according to reproductive health coordinator Michael Wamalwa, with officials linking the high burden partly to gaps in the existing national policy framework.

Wamalwa said the county had relied on the national reproductive health policy for years, but it had failed to adequately address challenges unique to Trans Nzoia.

“The national reproductive health policy that we've been using has many gaps that cannot address the challenges in our county. To seal those gaps, we want to have our own policy document which can guide us to address issues affecting reproductive health,” Wamalwa said.

The policy is expected to guide the coordination, management and delivery of reproductive health services in the county over the next five years, with a focus on maternal and newborn health, family planning and services targeting young people.

Trans Nzoia is among 26 counties identified as having a high burden of maternal and newborn deaths under the national Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE) Acceleration Plan 2026–2028.

Wamalwa said teenage pregnancy remains a major challenge in the county, alongside low uptake of family planning and poor attendance of the recommended fourth antenatal care visit.

“In Trans Nzoia, the teenage pregnancy menace is rampant, with low family planning and fourth antenatal care visits based on our performance, and this was due to lack of a policy to give the framework,” he said.

The policy was developed with support from MSI Reproductive Choices under its ‘Leaving No One Behind’ programme, which has also supported the county in mentoring reproductive health nurses on family planning and establishing a technical working group.

Wamalwa said the policy would be particularly important as donor funding for health programmes continues to shrink. He noted that the county already has a County Integrated Development Plan and a health department strategic plan, but lacks a specific policy to provide guidelines on reproductive health.

The document is awaiting consideration by the Trans Nzoia County Assembly.

Joshua Amwai, vice chairperson of the assembly’s Health and Sanitation Committee, said legislators would support its passage, noting that the absence of a policy had made it difficult to allocate resources specifically for family planning.

“As an assembly, we are in charge of the appropriation of funds. Therefore, basically without the policy it is hard for us to portion funds to support family planning services, but with this policy I can assure that it will give structured guidelines in the appropriation process,” Amwai said.

Amwai acknowledged that the county had performed poorly in establishing youth-friendly centres but said consultations with partners had shown that such a facility could be developed at a cost of about Sh25 million.

County Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Dr Judith Simiyu said the policy would provide guidelines for improving reproductive health services and strengthening efforts to prevent maternal and neonatal deaths.

She added that it would guide the county on capacity building for health workers and strengthen community outreach through community health promoters, who will provide information on family planning and encourage expectant mothers to seek care at health facilities.