It’s early in the morning, one of those dry days in the newsroom. The politics of the day are on a drag. Verbal political shots and salvos, the usual fodder for newsrooms, haven’t been fired yet — it seems politicians are acting their best.
You’re looking for story fillers to keep the news going. You check your e-mail and notice that there is a new message you had missed or probably ignored. There is a press conference about maternal and child health being held in a fancy hotel around the corner in just under two hours, so you decide to attend – though a bit conflicted about how to profile this story and attach to it the level of importance it deserves in a country where the mantra appears to be “politics is news and news is politics.” You gather your equipment and dash to arrive just in time to get some audio and footage.
Finally, a press release is issued, which partly reads: “Despite the progress attained in the past few decades, maternal and neonatal health (MNH) remains a key healthcare challenge in Kenya. The latest data shows that Kenya’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 530 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 (World Health Organisation) and the neonatal mortality rate 21 deaths per 1,000 live births (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 2022). Kenya’s maternal and neonatal mortality rates are significantly above the global averages despite the national Linda Mama programme and other efforts. (Financial Sector Deepening Kenya).”
By any measure, these appear to be abstract figures; reporting verbatim makes little sense to the general audience and has the potential of creating further confusion. So, what is the maternal mortality ratio? What is a live birth? You need to simplify these figures and terms with the help of expert interviews and break them down to allow the audience to understand what they mean and how this impacts their lives.
These are sensitive stories about human lives, especially mothers and babies, both born and unborn. You have to decide what is newsworthy: something new, something different. It has to be a story with the capacity to make someone pause and say, “Wait a minute, I didn’t know that about maternal and child health!” Coverage should span problems and solutions.
Maternal and child health stories should be framed around real-life experiences and the complexities of life and death during and after birth. These are the formative and earliest stages of human life. Stories involve translating complex figures and ratios into what they mean in the lives of first mothers and infants, then the rest of the population and other stakeholders, including the government.
The audience should be engaged with information about maternal health challenges and opportunities. They should be informed about why it matters for the nation’s future, as the country’s population projections are key in making decisions. Educate pregnant women who are ignorant about going to the clinics about the benefits of visiting healthcare facilities. Provide a discussion platform for the convergence of modern science and traditional knowledge about maternal and child health. Engage experts about the availability of specific interventions during the various stages of pregnancy. These experts include doctors, nurses, midwives and traditional birth attendants. Unpack and disseminate this information.
Share with the audience what is unusual, surprising, and even bizarre by exploring real-life experiences. Explain how the country compares with global averages on issues like maternal mortality and infant deaths, and whether the country is on track to meet goals and milestones in reducing the number of mothers and children dying before, during and after birth. How are individual counties doing in this area? All of these should be humanised through media stories that bring these statistics to life.
The topic is vast, with diverse angles: From conception, antenatal and post care to contraception, family planning and birth-related complications. Additionally, there are government policies regarding free healthcare and budget allocation. It is a population topic with many variables, including gender, projected workforce in the coming years and even the future electorate.
