Finding Peace of Mind at Tabitha Maternity Home: Violet’s Story
“It’s a place where mothers find the utmost care and support they need to bring their babies into the world safely.”
September 18, 2024
Healthy communities fuel global progress
Over the last two decades, Kenya has made significant progress in improving key health indicators. Between 2000 and 2019, maternal mortality and under-5 mortality declined by over 50%, average life expectancy increased by about 15 years, and HIV prevalence among those aged 15-49 reduced 50%.
Despite this progress, improvements are not evenly distributed across the nation.
Informal settlements face significant challenges and continue to struggle disproportionately with:
These challenges limit residents’ access to health care, lead to the spread of infectious diseases, contribute to high rates of maternal and child mortality, and result in poor health-seeking behaviors.
At CFK Africa, we strengthen health systems and decrease preventable illnesses and deaths in informal settlements by delivering primary health care services, leading public health surveillance, and supporting partner facilities with essential products and services.
Moving beyond clinic walls, we also take health promotion into the community, meeting people where they are, addressing misinformation, improving health-seeking behaviors, and encouraging residents to become champions for positive health behavior change.
Our primary health care work falls under five core focus areas.
We provide essential services geared toward improving the health and well-being of adolescents and youths, addressing gaps in health care provision and encouraging young people to utilize services ranging from sexual and reproductive health to psychological counseling.
“Physical and mental health are not completely separate. To support people effectively, we have to consider the many factors that impact their holistic health and provide more comprehensive care.”
Youth Friendly Services
Community Outreach
Young Health & Wellness Centre
Capacity Building
Youth Friendly Services
Our youth-friendly services provide a comfortable, appropriate setting to support young people and their diverse health needs. Services include adolescent nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and social protection.
Community Outreach
We share youth-friendly messages through safe spaces in schools and the community and engage young people in the design of informational material and projects focused on promoting their physical, mental, and social well-being
Young Health & Wellness Centre
In 2019, we established a first-of-its-kind Young Health & Wellness Centre in Kibera to meet the unique needs of adolescents and youth. The Centre provides affordable fees, is easily accessible, and acts as a model for youth-friendly service delivery in informal settlements.
Capacity Building
We work with youth-friendly facilities in selected informal settlements in Kenya to lead training and mentorship for healthcare staff, provide infrastructure support, and ensure facilities have the resources needed to operate effectively.
Through a dual focus on prevention and treatment, we improve public health by increasing access to quality health care at facilities close to home, providing early, appropriate referral care, and strengthening health-seeking behaviors among community members.
Located in the heart of Kibera, our Tabitha Medical Clinic is a one-stop-shop for health promotion, preventive and curative primary health care services, and critical patient transfer.
Meet Rose: Cervical Cancer Survivor. Community Change Agent.
After attending CFK Africa’s Tabitha Medical Clinic, Rose learned that she had cervical cancer. Thanks to early detection, she received free treatment at the clinic and has fully recovered. Rose later decided to serve as a Community Health Volunteer, educating other women in the community about the importance of preventive care.
Health Promotion & Messaging
Primary Health Care Services
Referral
Research
Health Promotion & Messaging
We share accessible health messages through health talks in hospital waiting areas, one-on-one sessions with community members, informational material, and local media outlets to encourage increased uptake of clinical services.
Primary Health Care Services
Our facility is well-equipped with trained clinicians, nurses, and laboratory technicians to screen for, identify, and diagnose both communicable and non-communicable diseases, such as cervical cancer, HIV, TB, and COVID-19. We also provide treatment for both acute and chronic illnesses, helping alleviate pain and stop or slow disease progression.
Referral
For patients in need of specialized care, we offer internal referrals across our clinics and health centers as well as external referrals to higher-level health facilities. We can facilitate patient transfers through our own ambulance or other means preferred by health service providers.
Research
We partner with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), and local and global research institutes to lead actionable public health research that helps shape programming, identify and mitigate potential public health emergencies, and inform policies.
Understanding that newborns, infants, and expecting and new mothers have specific needs, we provide quality, accessible maternal and child health services that support clients throughout all stages of pregnancy, delivery, and early childhood.
Skilled personnel offer community health education, antenatal care, emergency transportation, supervised delivery, and post-natal care.
“People should feel confident attending this hospital because the services offered are the best and it is in close proximity to our homes. One of my friends was in labor in the middle of the night. We made a call, and [CFK] sent over a motorbike to get us.”
Family Planning
Maternal Health Services
Community Outreach
Tabitha Maternity Home
Family Planning
We provide all women of reproductive age and their partners with information on child spacing and available family planning options, helping them make informed decisions about their health.
Maternal Health Services
We support expectant mothers throughout all stages of their pregnancies, providing high-quality antenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care. We also help new parents navigate the health care needs of their children.
Community Outreach
We work with community health volunteers to inform mothers with children under-5 of the benefits of breastfeeding and provide health information concerning pregnancy, labor, delivery, postnatal care, family planning, and child health care needs such as immunization and nutrition.
We also help clients understand warning signs during pregnancy and childbirth and ensure community health volunteers are prepared to identify complications and make referrals for treatment.
Tabitha Maternity Home
Our Tabitha Maternity Home provides affordable, high-quality maternal and child health care services and reduces maternal and child mortality in Kibera. To maximize accessibility, the facility is centrally located, open 24/7, and has an ambulance to facilitate emergency transportation.
Located in Kibera, Tabitha Maternity Home serves as a model for providing high-quality maternal and child health services.
Our nutrition program focusses on preventing, identifying, and treating malnutrition among children under 5, ensuring they reach physical and cognitive development milestones. We integrate malnutrition screening and treatment throughout health facilities, partner with the government, and work closely with community health volunteers (CHVs) under the community health strategy.
We also partner with early childhood development centers to provide nutrition services at the community level.
“I knew [my children] were underweight. Whenever I took them to the clinic, I would be told about their low weights, but I did not know where I could get help. [At CFK Africa,] I got help and training on how I can take care of them. Right now, I am so grateful because I can see my children’s health is improving.”
Malnutrition Screening
Malnutrition Treatment
Community Education
Community Outreach
Malnutrition Screening
We lead growth monitoring and promotion efforts for all children under-5 attending our health facilities to identify early changes in child development.
Our skilled personnel measure children’s weight, height, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), among additional nutritional assessments. Community health volunteers are also trained to conduct active case finding at the community level to identify and refer cases of malnutrition.
Malnutrition Treatment
Our nutritionists asses children to check for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and identify those at risk of malnutrition. Children with SAM are enrolled into an outpatient therapeutic feeding program while those with MAM are enrolled in a supplementary feeding program.
We closely monitor children identified as at-risk of malnutrition and ensure their caregivers receive training to help improve the nutritional status of the children
Community Education
We train community health volunteers to share health messaging surrounding nutrition, family planning, maternal and child health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene, among other topics. We also integrate health education into school health clubs and services offered through our health facilities.
Many caregivers become health education champions in their communities, sharing best practices with their neighbors and friends and referring patients in need to CFK Africa’s services.
Community Outreach
Our team of community health volunteers actively identify, refer, and monitor malnourished children in the communities we serve. They also lead community outreach activities concerning immunization and integrated community case management of sick children, share best practices for preventive health, and work with local ECDs to train teachers on nutrition, child development, deworming, and vitamin A supplementation.
Clean water, proper sanitation, and adequate hygiene are some of the most critical meaures in reducing the spread of infectious diseases, but access to WaSH remains limited in informal settlements.
By supporting WaSH infrastructure in schools, communities and health facilities, training community members how to make soap, establishing and strengthening health clubs in schools, and leading regular water quality testing efforts, we’re helping everyone realize their right to safe WaSH.
CFK Africa is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) lead implementing partner for WaSH in Kenya and has expanded its WaSH activities to four counties in Kenya: Kiambu, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nairobi.
WaSH Infrastructure
WaSH Education
Water Quality Monitoring
WaSH Infrastructure
We renovate and construct permanent WaSH facilities, including hand-washing stations, toilets, and related infrastructure, in schools, communities, and health facilities. To ensure sustainability, we identify and train key community members on soap-making and the maintenance of hand-washing stations.
WaSH Education
In partnership with community health volunteers and other stakeholders, we change behaviors and social norms concerning hygiene practices to end open defecation and improve drinking water safety.
We support the implementation of community-led total sanitation and work with students and community members to develop messaging to promote WaSH. We also establish and strengthen health clubs and train students and teachers to become WaSH champions at school and in their community.
Water Quality Monitoring
We collaborate with communities, schools, and government entities to monitor water quality and help develop response plans when necessary.
We also train teachers, community leaders, and support staff in schools and health facilities to monitor the functionality of WaSH infrastructure and notify authorities when chlorination and tank cleaning activities are due. These efforts help ensure community members have access to safe water for drinking and hand washing.
patients annually
children with routine vaccinations every month
babies safely every month
“It’s a place where mothers find the utmost care and support they need to bring their babies into the world safely.”
CFK Africa is empowering landlords to harness their power to start making changes within their compounds and collectively address SGBV.
“Our response recognizes both the immediate need of affected families…as well as the long-term impact of the spread of waterborne disease.”
CFK Africa is a registered NGO in Kenya and 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S. that improves public health and economic prosperity in informal settlements through participatory research, primary health care, and education.
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