Kenya’s silent crisis: 96 newborns, stillbirths lost daily to preventable causes

For the first two weeks of her son’s life, Laureen Akinyi felt a joy she had long feared she would never experience.

Each day, she watched him grow, gaining weight, stretching his tiny limbs, fighting for the life she had promised to protect. These small victories meant everything.

Her son was born underweight despite her commitment to every antenatal appointment, medication, and advice. Living with chronic anaemia, she had poured every ounce of strength into ensuring he would be healthy.

“When I got pregnant, it shocked many people. Doctors had advised me otherwise because my health wasn’t good. The pregnancy came with complications. But I wanted my baby. I was ready to fight for him.”

And she did fight. Through hospital visits, sleepless nights, and moments when her own health faltered, she pushed through. When the day came, she delivered naturally. No major complications. Relief washed over her as she held him, warm, tiny, fragile.

“He struggled to breathe for a bit; they put him on oxygen, but he was okay after 48 hours,” she recalls. “He was declared healthy, and we went home. I thought the worst was behind us.”

At home, the baby fed well, slept peacefully, and reacted like any newborn. She began to dream of milestones, laughter, watching him grow into a boy who would run, learn, and live free of the fear she had carried during pregnancy.

But two weeks later, those dreams fractured.

Her son suddenly developed difficulty breathing. It escalated quickly. She rushed him to a nearby clinic, where nurses referred him to Kenyatta National Hospital. By the time they arrived, the baby was gasping, his chest rising and falling with visible strain. He was placed on oxygen as doctors monitored him closely.

“I watched my baby slowly losing strength,” she says, her voice trembling. “He could barely breastfeed. He couldn’t swallow. There was nothing I could do but hold his hand and pray.”

In the hospital ward, surrounded by machines and beeping monitors, she stayed by his side, hour after hour, day after day, fighting a different kind of battle. This time, she wasn’t fighting for herself but against fear and hopelessness, against the thought that the little life she had carried for nine months might slip away.

She hoped for even the slightest improvement, a stronger cry, a successful feed, a breath without struggle. But uncertainty weighed heavily.

After three days, the fight ended.

She remembers the doctor’s slow steps, his face drawn. Her baby’s lungs had failed. They had done everything they could, but his small body could not keep up the battle.

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• Kenya’s silent crisis: 96 newborns
• stillbirths lost daily to preventable causes

“I felt the room spinning. I kept hoping they were wrong. That he would breathe again. That he would cry. But he didn’t. There was nothing they could have done… and nothing I could do.”

The silence that followed was louder than any sound she had ever heard. For a mother who had fought through illness, stigma, and fear, the loss was shattering.

She left the hospital carrying only his blanket, warm with memories but empty of life. In the days that followed, grief became her companion. Mornings were the hardest; waking up to a world where her baby should be smiling, cooing, reaching out.

“The news is still heavy,” she whispers. “Every day, I imagine how I would be playing with him… holding him… watching him grow. But that’s just a dream now.”

Newborns are born with organs still learning to function, their lungs fragile, hearts adjusting, and immune systems too weak to fight infections. A small fever, breathing difficulty, or feeding problem can escalate within hours into a medical emergency.

Complications during pregnancy or childbirth heighten this vulnerability: lack of oxygen during delivery, prolonged labour, prematurity, or low birth weight. Infections pose another major threat. Sepsis, pneumonia, or even an infected umbilical cord can overwhelm a baby quickly. Without fast, skilled care, survival becomes uncertain.

Feeding adds to this fragility. Babies who cannot latch or suckle properly weaken rapidly. For premature babies, risks multiply: underdeveloped lungs, unstable temperatures, and fragile bodies struggling to cope.

Mary Magubo, who leads maternal and newborn health interventions at the Ministry of Health, emphasises that prevention begins with quality care from skilled professionals. A skilled birth attendant, nurse, doctor, or clinical officer can make the difference.

 

Mothers, she says, should feel empowered to ask questions and know who is attending to them.

Magubo stresses that awareness of danger signs in newborns, including fever, pus or foul smell from the umbilical cord, or eye discharge, often signals infection. Without prompt treatment, the baby may weaken rapidly. At this point, mothers must seek care immediately.

She explains that complications remain a leading cause of neonatal deaths and stillbirths, but antenatal care plays a critical role. Screening for anaemia and addressing it early can minimise risks. Delays, arriving late, poor quality of care, or failing to identify danger signs remain deadly.

Certain pregnancy danger signs, severe headaches, unexplained bleeding, should never be ignored. They may indicate high blood pressure or eclampsia and require immediate medical attention.

To strengthen accountability, Kenya is working toward a digitised system to track maternal and newborn deaths through the Every Woman Every Newborn (EWEN) program.

“No newborn should die,” Magubo insists. “We need more resources, protected at national and county levels, to prevent maternal and newborn deaths and support health workers.”

According to Ministry of Health data, Kenya loses 15 mothers every day, alongside 96 newborns and 96 stillbirths. These losses add up to thousands of families affected each year, turning moments of joy into lifelong grief.

Leading causes remain infections, sepsis, bleeding, and other preventable complications. Many are treatable when detected early, yet delays and inadequate resources continue to claim lives.

Annually, these daily statistics translate into a devastating toll. More than 5,000 mothers die from pregnancy-related complications. Over 35,000 newborns die before the 28th day in their first month of life. Another 35,000 pregnancies end in stillbirths, often reflecting failures in antenatal care, timely referral, and skilled attendance.