2020 Microclinic Initiative Inc

In parts of rural Kenya, new mothers die at a rate that existed in Great Britain in 1890, or in the United States in 1935. We developed our current program, Operation Karibu, to improve maternal and infant health in rural Kenya by helping mothers safely deliver their babies in local clinics. Through our work in the field with mothers and healthcare workers, we developed a unique approach to improving maternal and infant health through three interconnected interventions: 1. Provide donated & locally produced baby clothing to encourage mothers to attend prenatal visits and deliver in-clinic; 2. Offer training to mothers and birth companions to facilitate awareness and preparation; 3. Create a fund to cover the cost of emergency transport to clinics. Together, these interventions create an approach that addresses the specific challenges discouraging mothers from delivering in local clinics. So far, our program has benefited over 2,500 mothers and babies with 100% healthy deliveries, increasing the rate of safe delivery by as much as 260% in some counties. We use our interventions to foster relationships between mothers, community leaders, and trained health professionals—relationships that ultimately deliver life-saving health care services.

We are a community-based organization executing our mission with the collaboration of local Kenyans, healthcare workers, volunteers, and donors in both America and Kenya. Our donors contribute baby clothes and t-shirts for Kenyan mothers to sew into baby clothes that are used for our incentive program. Operation Karibu is endorsed by the Kenya Ministry of Health and is poised to expand to the poorest county in Kenya, Kakamega County, where many of the mothers we will assist are teens. With our next expansion, we will be able to reach 10,000 mothers and babies over the next two years, and we will need more baby clothes, t-shirts, and monetary donations to support our efforts!