The launch of a new boutique maternity hospital in Nairobi comes as Kenya intensifies efforts to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths, highlighting the growing need for more integrated, continuous and patient centred maternity services.
Malaica has opened its new maternity facility at 240 General Mathenge Gardens in Westlands, introducing an end-to-end model that combines clinical maternity services with preconception care, mental-health support, postpartum recovery and maternal wellness.
The facility enters a healthcare sector where Kenya has made progress in expanding access to antenatal and facility-based delivery services, but continues to face a significant maternal mortality burden.
The World Health Organization’s latest internationally comparable estimates put Kenya’s maternal mortality ratio at 378.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, down from earlier estimates but still substantially above the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Government data also underscores the scale of the challenge. In 2025, the Ministry of Health cited a maternal mortality figure of 594 deaths per 100,000 live births, based on a 2024 USAID report, describing maternal mortality as a continuing national concern. Differences between figures reflect different datasets and estimation methodologies, making the WHO estimate the appropriate reference for international comparison.
The latest Kenya Demographic and Health Survey shows that access to maternity services has improved considerably. In 2022, 98 per cent of women who had a live birth or stillbirth in the preceding two years received antenatal care from a skilled provider, while 88 per cent of live births took place in a health facility. However, only 66 per cent of women had at least four antenatal visits, and just 29 per cent began antenatal care during the first trimester.
These gaps have placed greater emphasis on continuity of care, early intervention and stronger links between antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.
Malaica says its new facility is designed around this approach, allowing women to access support from preconception through pregnancy, childbirth and the early stages of motherhood rather than navigating separate providers at different stages.
Located in Westlands, the hospital combines maternity care with what Malaica describes as a boutique patient experience, seeking to create a less clinical and more supportive environment for mothers.
Services include 24-hour emergency care, care navigation, mental-health support, doula services, physiotherapy, birth preparation and maternal wellness programmes.
The facility is supported by a multidisciplinary team comprising obstetricians, midwives, paediatricians, anaesthesiologists, nurses, doulas, physiotherapists and mental-health professionals.
“For too long, women have had to navigate fragmented systems. What we are building is a connected model that brings care together before, during, and after pregnancy,” said Dr Lorraine Muluka, CEO of Malaica.
The model reflects a broader shift in maternal healthcare towards treating pregnancy and childbirth as a continuum rather than a series of isolated clinical encounters.
Malaica’s Medical Director, Dr Lisa Ochola, said the facility would focus on guiding mothers through different stages of pregnancy while maintaining access to professional support beyond the hospital.
“We will focus on giving our mums continuous, end-to-end care through clear navigation pathways, ensuring every patient is guided and cared for throughout her journey,” she said.
The hospital includes private recovery suites, consultation rooms, a neonatal care unit and dedicated wellness spaces intended to support mothers during recovery.
Its launch comes as the Kenyan government is expanding investments aimed at reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths. In May 2026, the Ministry of Health launched the Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE) Acceleration Plan 2026–2028, alongside additional investments in maternal and newborn healthcare. The programme includes KSh4 billion for delivery and essential newborn care, KSh1 billion for lifesaving maternal and newborn commodities, KSh2.5 billion for family-planning commodities and funding to recruit 5,000 nurses and midwives.
The government has also strengthened maternal death surveillance and response mechanisms, including a national steering committee inaugurated in February 2026 to improve the identification of preventable deaths and ensure lessons from maternal and perinatal deaths translate into action.
Against this backdrop, private-sector facilities such as Malaica are entering a market increasingly focused not only on access to maternity services but also on quality, safety, continuity and patient experience.
Malaica says it intends to complement clinical care with maternal education, wellness programmes and community-building initiatives aimed at reducing the isolation that some women experience during pregnancy and early motherhood.
The broader challenge for Kenya, however, remains ensuring that improvements in quality maternity care extend beyond Nairobi and private healthcare settings to women across counties, particularly those facing barriers to timely antenatal care, skilled delivery, emergency obstetric services and postnatal support.
For Malaica, the Westlands facility represents an effort to position maternity care as a continuous healthcare journey — one that begins before pregnancy, extends through childbirth and continues well into the postpartum period.
