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Outgoing Kakamega Governor’s Wife Priscilla Oparanya who is also Director of Touch a Life Kakamega CBO accompanied with staff from the Health Department today visited Malava Sub County Hospital to establish an exclusive breastfeeding room for healthcare workers.
The Unit is meant to reduce time wasted by health care workers going back home to breastfeed their young ones while they are supposed to be on duty.
Mama Priscillah who was received by the Hospital Medical Superintendent Mr Kibisu said she is committed to seeing health care workers serve patients on time that is why they have established the Unit.
She noted that exclusive feeding program Unit will help health workers bond with their babies at the facility, breastfeed them on time and help workers stay at place of work for better service delivery.
Through Touch a life CBO, Mrs Oparanya has established exclusive feeding units in Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital, Malava and next week she will be heading to Likuyani for the same.
Through her efforts and sponsorship from the CBO, she intends to establish the Units in all Level fours hospitals across the County.
Mrs Oparanya promised to equip the Unit with modern equipments.
Mr. Kibisu said the Unit has reduced on time wastage by healthcare workers who leave facilities to go home for breastfeeding.
He said the Unit has improved on baby bonding with the mother, reduced stress for mothers who think about their babies instead of concentrating at work.
“When health workers carry their babies to work place, it makes the mother bond well with the child, work comfortably without worries and the work productivity is so high,” he said.
He added; “For now we have four health workers who are now breastfeeding and when we have a place set aside it gives them happy time to work unlike when they have left their babies at home.”
Later in the day, the former first lady held an engagement forum with men from Malava Sub County at Malava Catholic Church where she asked men to support their partners in caring for the unborn, raising young ones and be fully involved in maternal health affairs in their families.
“Men have a bigger role to play in their families. I encourage them to use their positions in the family and society to support reproductive health programs and also encourage their wives to adhere to antenatal clinics when they are expectant,” she said.