Lead image for How portable ultrasounds are drawing rural mothers to clinics.
For years, Mary Kamama had stayed away from antenatal clinics, not because she didn't understand their importance, but because reaching a health facility was an ordeal.
The mother of five from Kipnai village in Tiaty had to travel nearly 20 kilometres to Kuikui Health Centre in neighbouring Baringo North whenever she needed medical attention. With no health facility close to her home, the distance, coupled with the challenges of travelling from the remote village, meant that formal antenatal care was often out of reach.
Like many women in her community, Kamama relied on traditional birth attendants during her previous pregnancies and only sought medical attention when complications arose.
Also read: Born in a modern manyatta: How a culturally inspired shelter is saving mothers and babies
But a few months ago, word began spreading through the villages about a small machine at Kuikui Health Centre that could seemingly do something extraordinary: show a baby inside the womb.
Curious to see the machine for herself, Kamama made the long journey to the facility. What began as curiosity has now turned into regular antenatal attendance. On Thursday last week, she was among several expectant mothers waiting at the facility for antenatal services, just days away from her expected delivery date.
The portable point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) machine had become more than a medical device for her. It had given her a reason to make the journey to a health facility and, for the first time in her pregnancies, follow the development and position of her unborn child under the care of health professionals.
"I have five children, and I have never attended antenatal clinics for all of them because the health facility is very far away. The nearest one is Kuikui in the neighbouring Baringo North Sub-County," said Kamama.