Data from the Ministry of Health indicates that Nairobi County has the highest rates of preterm babies with 5,338 babies born before 37 weeks of gestation period.
Among the top ten counties with the highest preterm births include, Nakuru with 2,815, followed by Kiambu with 2,330 preterm births, Kilifi with 1,919 and Bungoma with 1,544.
Kajiado with 1,424, Kisumu with 1,346, Mombasa with 1,303, Trans Nzoia with 1,071, Kakamega with 1,49 and Nyeri with 966 follows in that list.
These counties account for 52 percent of the total premature babies born in the country.
Currently, at least 134,600 babies are born preterm in Kenya, with the country recording 13,300 deaths of children under five due to direct preterm complications. The prevalence of preterm birth stands at 12 percent.
Delivering a premature baby in the past, being pregnant with multiples, tobacco use and substance abuse, and short time between pregnancies are the risk factors for preterm births.
Globally, 15 million babies are born premature or one in 10 babies while about one million children die every year resulting from complications of preterm birth.
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