Insurance Brokerage firm, Minet Kenya, has launched a maternity assistance programme aimed at creating awareness on pregnancy and childcare related matters.
Data from the corporate schemes Minet Kenya manages shows maternity as ] one of the key reasons for hospital visits and therefore underpins the need to put in place interventions that ensure healthy, blossoming mums.
Speaking at the launch of the Blooming Moms programme, Minet Kenya Head of Clinical Services Wincate Mukaindo noted that although information regarding reproductive health can be easily accessed due to the ever-improving state of maternal healthcare in the country, there is an information gap and a lot still needs to be done.
Pregnancy to motherhood
Minet Kenya’s key objective is to create a platform for parents to interact with experts in the field thus empowering them to be the best they can be as they walk the journey through conception, pregnancy and childbirth.
“The Minet maternity assistance programme aims to walk this journey with women and their families as they transition to parenthood,” Ms Mukaindo said.
The transition from pregnancy to motherhood should be a period of joy, she said, but most women are faced with bouts of disappointment, frustration, fear and worry due to the inadequacy of information about motherhood.
Ms Mukaindo said the programme would aim to address the psychological well-being of the expectant mother, childbirth preparation classes and build confidence for a mothers’ ability to deliver and nurture their children.
Minet Kenya would be working in collaboration with various health experts as it rolls out the programme.
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She noted that the programme will continue post-birth to ensure that the transition is fully ingrained and prevent them battling between who they were before motherhood and who they think they should be after delivery.
“Postpartum depression is still a taboo subject in our society and is inadequately addressed though it affects 10% to 15% of mothers and leaves most women struggling with the transition to motherhood,” Ms Wincate Mukaindo said.
Postpartum depression
“We have incorporated health talks around the psychological well-being of mothers to provide health information to women helping them improve their mental, emotional and physical wellness.”
According to Postpartum International, it is estimated that one in seven women suffer postpartum depression (PPD) in their lifetime. In Kenya, approximately 200,000 women are predisposed to PPD.
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