In Nairobi and Kwale, the Lea Salama Project was Started to Address Maternal and Infant Deaths
Posted on : Tuesday , 7th April 2026
On April 2, 2026, the Lea Salama Maternal and neonatal Health (MNH) Project was introduced as a new maternal and neonatal health effort.
In an effort to reduce Kenya's consistently high rates of maternal and newborn death, this is aimed at Nairobi and Kwale Counties.
According to data from 2019, Kenya's maternal mortality ratio is currently 355 deaths per 100,000 live births, while the neonatal mortality rate is 21 per 1,000 live births.
Kwale and Nairobi, the project's target counties, had MMRs of 464 and 326, respectively, indicating a more catastrophic scenario.
Experts caution that Kenya would need to accelerate its annual rate of decline by about five times its current pace in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of 70 or fewer maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
The project, a collaboration between the Britam Foundation and UNFPA, makes use of the Britam Foundation's strategic commitment in healthcare as well as UNFPA's technical leadership in sexual and reproductive health.
It mainly targets underprivileged areas, vulnerable pregnant women, and front-line healthcare facilities and clinicians in both counties.
The effort is based on the understanding that the majority of maternal and newborn deaths are avoidable, with the "three delays" model delaying seeking care, getting to a medical facility and receiving high-quality Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) being the primary cause of these deaths.
It primarily targets vulnerable pregnant women, impoverished communities and front-line healthcare providers in both counties.
By July 2027, the project's three main goals will be accomplished: improving the health system's ability to provide high-quality MNH services, with an emphasis on EmONC; making sure that the facilities it targets regularly perform Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) audits, with all near-miss cases leading to data-driven corrective action; and greatly raising the demand for and uptake of high-quality MNH services among women in both counties.
In order to accomplish these objectives, the project will strengthen the use of routine health data for decision-making through platforms like eCHIS and KHIS, expand EmONC mentorship and skills drills, introduce cutting-edge technologies like point-of-care ultrasound (OPOCUS) in antenatal care clinics, and onboard up to 10,000 pregnant women on the PROMPTS digital platform.
In the end, the project is anticipated to improve access to prenatal, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care services while developing a scalable model that can guide more extensive investments in maternal and newborn health throughout Kenya.
