Kenya commits KSh12.5 billion ($96.6 million) to cut maternal and newborn deaths

Kenya has set aside close to KSh12.5 billion, about $96.6 million, for a renewed push to keep mothers and newborns alive during childbirth, health officials announced this week.

The commitment was outlined during a session on maternal and newborn survival at the inaugural Kenya Health Summit 2026, led by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and First Lady Rachel Ruto.

The session reviewed how the government is scaling up interventions across 26 counties identified as carrying the highest burden of maternal and newborn deaths.

Where the money is going

The Ministry of Health broke down the funding by purpose. About KSh4 billion is going toward delivery services and essential newborn care, the support a mother and baby need in the hours around birth.

Another KSh1 billion is set aside for lifesaving maternal and newborn medical supplies, while KSh2.5 billion will fund family-planning commodities. Separately, the government plans to spend KSh5 billion a year to recruit 5,000 additional nurses.

The nurse recruitment addresses a persistent gap in Kenya's health system: a shortage of skilled birth attendants, particularly outside major cities, that has long been linked to preventable deaths during labour.

Why this matters

Kenya's maternal mortality ratio stood at 355 deaths for every 100,000 live births as of the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, more than double the global average, which the World Health Organization estimated at around 223 per 100,000 in 2020.

In practical terms, health researchers estimate this amounts to roughly 5,000 to 6,000 women dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes in Kenya each year.

The leading causes are largely preventable with timely care. Postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after birth, accounts for about 40 percent of maternal deaths in Kenya, according to the Kenya Health Information System.

Obstructed labour follows at 28 percent, and eclampsia, a dangerous rise in blood pressure during pregnancy, at 14 percent.

Each of these can usually be managed if a skilled attendant and basic emergency equipment are available at the point of delivery, which is why the new funding leans heavily toward staffing and delivery-room supplies rather than long-term infrastructure alone.

A test case in Nairobi

The ministry pointed to Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi, one of the busiest maternity facilities in East Africa, handling between 15,000 and 18,000 deliveries a year, as an example of what sustained investment can do.

According to the ministry's account of the summit session, the hospital has recorded close to zero maternal deaths over the past 18 months. That figure was presented by the ministry rather than by an independent audit, and has not yet been published in a standalone report.

Money already reaching mothers

Beyond the new pledge, the Social Health Authority, Kenya's national health insurance body, has already reimbursed more than KSh17 billion for maternal health services since it began operating.

That reimbursement covers costs such as hospital delivery and related care for enrolled mothers, separate from the new KSh12.5 billion package announced this week.

The government is also leaning on faster emergency response to catch complications before they become fatal.

Two systems, the SHA 922 Lifeline and the National Ambulance Dispatch Centre, are being used to coordinate urgent referrals for mothers and newborns who develop complications during labour or shortly after.

The bigger picture

Kenya's maternal health system has faced strain in the past two years as it transitioned from the older NHIF insurance scheme to the Social Health Authority, a shift that has, in some areas, left mothers newly responsible for costs that used to be covered outright.

Early data cited by health researchers suggests skilled birth attendance may be declining as a result in some counties, even as the national government pushes new funding through EWENE, the Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere initiative behind this week's announcement.

The summit brought together senior health officials, including Principal Secretary for Medical Services Ouma Oluga, Principal Secretary for Public Health Mary Muthoni, Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth, and county governors including Nairobi's Johnson Sakaja and Mombasa's Abdulswamad Nassir, alongside the World Health Organization's representative to Kenya.

Whether the new KSh12.5 billion translates into a measurable drop in Kenya's maternal mortality ratio will depend on how quickly the funded nurses reach the 26 targeted counties and how consistently emergency referral systems are used once complications arise.

Source

Ministry of Health, Kenya. "Every Woman Cared For, Every Newborn Given a Chance." 2026.