Eight Years of Safe Births at Ruben Health Centre
When the 8,000th baby took his first breath at Ruben Health Centre last week, nobody had to ask whether the lights were on, the nurses were present or the doors were open. They always are.
Our maternity unit opened on 18 May 2018. Five days later, on 23 May, Pricillah Wairimu became our very first mother and welcomed the first baby born at the Centre. That little boy is now 8 years and 5 months old, and he has grown up alongside the unit that welcomed him into the world.
Last week, we celebrated baby number 8,000, a boy born to Marion Omwitsa, who was overjoyed to welcome her firstborn child. “I was nervous, but the nurses held my hand through everything,” she said. “They treated me like family. I am so happy to hold my son, and I will tell every mother I know to come here.”
Her words capture what we work for every day. It took eight years to get here, and the change in Mukuru is clear. Before our maternity unit opened, our own community survey found that about 23% of mothers in Mukuru gave birth at home, often without a skilled attendant, clean equipment or a quick way to reach help when labour became complicated. When we asked again recently, that figure had fallen to 3%. National programmes like Linda Mama have played their part, but mothers tell us the biggest reason is simple: there is now a facility close to home that they know and trust.
The team and equipment behind every birth
Our maternity unit runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with:
15 nurses
5 assistant nurses
2 drivers, who make sure mothers reach a bigger hospital quickly when they need more specialised care
2 delivery beds
1 incubator
3 resuscitators
A pure oxygen supply and an oxygen concentrator
Our care goes well beyond delivery. Mothers also come to us for antenatal clinics, immunisation, family planning and postnatal care, so the support continues long after the baby is born.
Open when it mattered most
When health workers’ strikes strained services across Kenya, mothers did not stop going into labour, and many of them came to us. During those periods our deliveries rose sharply as expectant mothers looked for a place that would not turn them away. Our team worked under real pressure so that no woman in labour went without care. That commitment is a big part of how we reached 8,000 babies, and it is a promise we intend to keep.
Eight years in numbers (May 2018 to date)
8,644 mothers admitted
7,920 mothers delivered at the facility
8,011 babies born: 4,039 boys and 3,972 girls (the difference from the number of mothers comes from twins)
724 mothers referred to bigger hospitals when complications arose
2 maternal deaths
23 neonatal deaths
Each loss is felt deeply by our team, and we honour every one of them. The figures also show what skilled, accessible care can achieve. Kenya loses about 355 mothers for every 100,000 live births (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022), and across the country’s health facilities the average is about 99. At Ruben Health Centre it is about 25, roughly one mother in every 4,000 deliveries. These figures cover mothers who delivered with us, since those with serious complications were referred on. Behind those numbers are families that stayed together, children who grew up with their mothers beside them, and a growing belief in Mukuru that safe motherhood is possible for everyone.
We are proud of these eight years, but we still send about one mother in every twelve to another hospital, often when she and her baby are most at risk. Six in ten of those referrals are for caesarean sections and newborn care, two things we cannot yet offer under our own roof.
Agrippina Wiyala, the nurse in charge of our maternity unit, has watched those journeys too many times.
“The hardest part of my job is not the long nights. It is standing at the gate watching a mother in pain being driven away because we do not have a theatre. We have done everything right, and still, we have to say, ‘We cannot help you here.’ Then we wait by the phone, hoping she reaches in time. With a theatre and a newborn unit, I could look a mother in the eye and say, ‘You are safe. Everything you and your baby need is right here.’ That is what Mukuru’s mothers deserve, and it is what my team is ready to give.”
A theatre and a newborn unit would let us care for mother and child from first antenatal visit to safe discharge, without a risky transfer across the city. If you would like to help us build it, please reach out to us at info@rubencentre.org
To mark the milestone, every mother who delivered with us on the day we welcomed our 8,000th baby received a shopping hamper from Ruben Centre, a small thank you and a celebration of the new lives they brought into the world.
This milestone belongs to many hands. To every partner, donor and friend who has stood with our maternity unit since 2018, thank you. Your support kept the lights on, the oxygen flowing and the doors open, through strikes, shortages and every night shift in between. Eight years, 8,000 babies, and a community that now chooses safe birth. The next baby is already on the way, and we will be ready.
By: Ben Kagwima
Edits by: Gregory Barake
