Kenya's maternal mortality ratio remains among the highest in the region, according to health and legal experts, who warn gaps in care continue to cost women's and girls' lives.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM on Friday, Medical Doctor Sally Muthoni, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Advocate Doris Kathia and human rights lawyer Nerima Were said the country's maternal death toll remains unacceptably high even as officials promise reform.
"Numbers don't lie. Mothers are dying, and no mother should die because pregnancy is not a sickness," said Muthoni.
Kenya's maternal mortality ratio stands at 355 deaths per 100,000 live births, a figure confirmed by the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. The ratio translates to nearly 5,000 preventable deaths a year and sits well above the country's own target of fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Muthoni said the figure remains one of the clearest measures of the country's performance in maternal healthcare.
"The numbers that matter are the maternal mortality figures. Maternal mortality refers to the number of women who die as a result of pregnancy or complications arising from interventions made during pregnancy, and our numbers remain unacceptably high," explained Muthoni.
Muthoni compared Kenya's ratio with Singapore's, where maternal deaths sit in the single digits per 100,000 live births, noting that Kenya has repeatedly cited the country as a benchmark it hopes to reach.
Kathia said limited access to accurate information remains one of the biggest barriers, particularly for young people.
"There is a huge gap in sharing sexual and reproductive health information, largely because of the misconception that educating young people about it encourages them to have sex.The reality is that young people are sexually active and we must confront that reality with honest, age-appropriate information to help prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce teenage pregnancies," noted Kathia.
She said young people aged 15 to 24 face a disproportionate burden of pregnancy-related risk, one that extends to older women of reproductive age.
Kathia added that internet access has made information easier to find but not necessarily more reliable.
"The question is whether the information they are getting is accurate," observed Kathia.
The panel also raised concerns over the gap between what the law allows on abortion and what women can actually access.
Kenya's abortion law sits in a legal grey area. Article 26(4) of the 2010 Constitution permits abortion where a trained health professional determines there is need for emergency treatment or the mother's life or health is in danger, or where another written law allows it.
The Penal Code, however, still criminalises the procedure more broadly, a contradiction that has fuelled years of court challenges and left many providers uncertain about when they can legally act. The Center for Reproductive Rights has estimated that unsafe abortion contributes to nearly 2,600 deaths of women and girls in Kenya annually, or about seven a day.
Were said Kenya has made some gains in reproductive healthcare, pointing to expanded investment in contraception and integrated HIV and sexually transmitted infection services for pregnant women.
She said unmet need for contraception has fallen from 18 per cent to about 15 per cent.
Despite the progress, Were said the country has not matched its constitutional commitments with practice.
"Nothing we have done so far makes it look like we truly care about reproductive health, despite the fact that it is guaranteed in the Constitution," said Were.
Were said the Constitution permits lawful abortion where a woman's life or health is at risk or under other legally defined circumstances, but questioned where such services are actually available.
Kathia said public facilities routinely turn away women seeking safe abortions while offering post-abortion care once complications arise.
"Public health facilities won't support you when you're seeking a safe abortion, but they will treat you when you need post-abortion care," she explained.
Kathia described abortion as a medical term for the termination of a pregnancy, whether induced or spontaneous, and cautioned against treating the procedure as inherently criminal.
"Abortion is not illegal. You cannot criminalise me when my body is simply expelling a foetus," Kathia said.
Were said the right to access abortion falls under Article 43 of the Constitution, while restrictions sit under Article 26, which she said should not be treated as the final word on reproductive rights.
"In my view, the right to access abortion rests under Article 43, while its restrictions sit under Article 26. However, Article 26 is not the ceiling, it cannot be the sole basis for how we define and understand reproductive health and rights," added Were.
Kathia said the distance between legal guarantees and lived reality remains wide.
"What is enshrined on paper and the reality on the ground are two different things. Abortion services may exist, but their accessibility is not there and the dignity of women is often not respected," she noted.
The panel called for stronger action to close the gaps in maternal and reproductive healthcare, improve access to accurate information and guarantee women and girls quality services free of discrimination.
