In Summary
- Christine Mawia is an award winning nurse who takes credit for reducing the infant mortality rate in Kitui.
- She did this by transforming the nursery environment and ensuring there were staff responsible for the wellbeing of the babies.
Out of 52065 applicants drawn from 202 countries, a Kenyan nurse, Christine Mawia has made it to the top ten finalists of the prestigious Aster Guardian awards.
Mawia is a neonatal nurse who surmounted various challenges and put in her dedication towards saving the lives of preterm babies.
She helped the Kitui County Referral Hospital in setting up their first equipped newborn unit. This led to a reduction of neonatal mortality rate from above 50% to below 10%.
Poor clinical setup that led to loss of lives
Mawia began practising as a nurse in 1995 and she would later pursue a specialised course in pediatric nursing at Getrude’s Children’s Hospital.
When she began working at Kitui District Hospital, she was touched by the poor environment of the neonatal unit that led to loss of lives.
Despite the fact that the unit housed preterm babies who were at risk of numerous complications such as hypothermia (low body temperature) and jaundice, it lacked nurses attending to the patients.
Additionally, it was basically a room that had been neglected and wasn’t equipped with basic life saving apparatus.
“People knew that a nursery room is just a hot room. So they (babies) were kept there and surely there was nobody responsible for these babies,” she revealed in a past interview.
Mawia adds: “There were no staff specifically allocated in that room. It was just the maternity nurses.”
Transforming the neonatal unit
The nurse began by assembling various equipment such as oxygen concentrators and suctioning machines. In collaboration with partners, she then set up an independent newborn unit with incubators and phototherapy machines.
Her leadership acumen would then come into action as she organised for the training of nurses especially on neonatal resuscitation.
“I decided if I trained the nurses and they gained knowledge, they could help me take care of the babies,” she says.
Instant results
By the end of the year 2010, Mawia’s initiative would come into fruition. The hospital recorded a reduction of neonatal mortality rate from above 50% to below 10%.
Additionally, the functional unit meant that there were less referrals of babies to Machakos and Nairobi.
Awards
Mawia has bagged several awards due to her act of improving and saving lives. In 2013, she won two local awards; one being the Eastern Province nurse of the year.
Across the borders, she received the International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Award. Former First Lady Margaret Kenyatta feted Mawia with the 2021 Nurse-led Initiative of the Year. In 2022, she clinched the Trailblazer in Reproductive Health Award.
With Mawia beating cutthroat competition to penetrate into this year’s top 10 Aster Guardian Awards, a multimillion cash award awaits her.
