Providing psychosocial support to mothers in rural and marginalized areas in Africa

Giving birth for the first time can come with a lot of mixed feelings, especially the excitement over acquiring a new title, to be called a mom. On the other hand, the looming fear of the unknown can be overwhelming to a woman who just painfully joined motherhood.

Newborn babies can be very needy and new mothers need constant emotional and physical support during this period as they learn the ins of motherhood and how to cope with the various challenges and demands that come with it.

While some women have the privilege of giving birth in well-equipped maternity clinics where they get full access to professional guidance on how to take care of themselves and their newborn babies, others can hardly afford or access such vital services.

In the Orus area of Tiaty East Subcounty in the larger Baringo County, access to such quality professional maternity services has been extremely difficult to come by. For decades, the community members when sick have had to travel about 70kms away to receive basic health services.  It has been the same case for urgent and crucial services such as care by trained birth attendants during childbirth, especially in the event of a complicated pregnancy or delivery. 

It is overly stressful, exhausting and unsafe for a full-term expectant mother being forced to travel for such a long distance to receive maternal health services and then having to raise their baby with limited or no access to child healthcare services.

It is for this humanistic reason that MAMA and partners such as Altro Foundation are working tirelessly to complete and fully equip the MAMA Wellness and Resource Centre to bring the crucial health services closer to Orus community and provide a safe haven for women who need mental health support during and after their pregnancies. 

MAMA Wellness and Resource Centre will be equipped with modern maternal and child health equipment and qualified professionals to provide quality services to the people of Orus.

Mental health and psychosocial support for mothers in the rural and marginalized area are some of the key areas that MAMA will be focusing on when it starts running. 

Article written by Wendy Cheptoo

Wendy is a Media Communications specialist working with MAMA and a counseling psychologist in practice.