Welcome

Kenya has one of the highest rates of mothers dying in or around childbirth in the world. In the part of Kenya we operate in, approximately one mother out of every seventeen and one baby out of every fifteen dies.

Our vision is to make a sustainable change to the health of vulnerable and often hard-to-reach pregnant women and their families.

Our aim is to save lives of mothers and babies in Kenya by using a holistic approach to health care in the community.

We are a small UK-based charity consisting of four health professionals, committed to and passionate about supporting the most vulnerable families in the slum areas of Mombasa and Kilifi districts in Kenya.

‘Mother and baby’ in Swahili is ‘Mama na Mtoto’ – our charity name chosen by the families we serve.

The Mother and Baby Project is a prevention model of healthcare which takes midwifery and family healthcare directly into the heart of family life – into the homes of the women we support. There are no other services providing this.

Our aim is to empower women to make the right choices for themselves and their families, thus improving family life in a sustainable manner.

We have so far implemented the first phase of the project, which is a community-based midwifery care service providing support, guidance, education, free midwifery and health care.

We have implemented training for local women and local midwives, who can now deliver this service, making it sustainable and accepted within the villages.

We work in collaboration with the local government, voluntary agencies and a medical training college to ensure that all our work is researched, up to date and integrated into existing health services.

We aim to tackle the many barriers which pregnant women face in accessing health services so that more women live to see their babies grow and develop, ensuring that children can reach their full potential.

There are many orphans in Kenya. Saving women’s lives, and making lives healthier ensures there are less!

20th April 2017Mama Na Mtoto.UK

School uniforms funded by a donor

Many children are too poor to purchase uniforms, which makes them unable to attend school. We have funded 40 new uniforms for children who couldn’t afford them and they now all attend school.

23rd March 2017Mama Na Mtoto.UK

Jeremiah’s story

We first met Jerry when his mum attended our mother and baby tent at our community fun day in 2014. His story is very emotive and highlights the plight of many Kenyan parents today.

Jerry’s mum Eunice is happy for us to tell his story in the hope it will help other children.

Jeremiah was six when we met him, far too old for the work we were doing that day. Our age limit for the mother and baby tent was six months old. His mother Eunice came to us out of desperation and knew he was too old but had nowhere else to go.

Jerry has multiple health problems, but also many that you cannot. He has hydrocephalus, is blind and cannot swallow solid food. No one knows for sure if he can hear but we suspect that he can slightly. He has severe spasticity of his limbs and is painfully thin. He has a nasty scar on his face from when he had his brain shunt put in.

His young life has consisted of living mostly in the dark, laying flat on his back on the floor, without any stimulation and never upright unless held in your arms.

Many disabled children in Kenya can be hidden away, as some think it is a curse for their children to be disabled but Eunice doesn’t – she takes him with her wherever she goes, carrying him in a kanga (a sling on her back) unless she is going to work, which then her mother looks after him. Eunice is a single mum with two other children. She has a strong conviction to care for and support her family but often without an income which is difficult, especially considering Jerry’s needs.

On one of our trips, Jeremiah was very ill. He had a very high temperature and was unable to cough or clear his chest. Our family event was not the appropriate place for him. Eunice was advised to take him to see a doctor and I said we would be happy to see her the next day.

We provided food and medication for him. He got better and as a charity, we decided we would continue to support Eunice, not only with his basic needs but also his medical needs.

For the next few years, we bought him a handmade chair so that he could eat sitting up for the first time ever. He was happy and smiled. Our trustee in Kenya (Esther) continues to visit him, as do other trustees when they are in Kenya.