Low-cost devices key to reversing neonatal mortality

The Nyeri County Referral Hospital recently opened a newborn unit. In most cases this would have passed as an in house ceremony. The project attracts attention because of two things; the homegrown solution to neonatal care and its unique intervention in trying to bring down deaths of newborns.

According to the 2014 Kenya Demographic Health Survey, neonatal mortality is at 22 deaths per every 1,000 live births. For those who survive, they face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems. Nairobi’s mortality is nearly double the national number at 39 neonates dying per 1,000 live births.