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There’s a flicker of hope for the country’s expectant mothers following the rejuvenation of the Linda Mama programme under the Social Health Authority.

This follows an allocation of Sh2 billion from the National Treasury to enrol expectant mothers into the indigent programme, an initiative for the needy.

It’s expected that this new program, in its piloted at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, will be rolled out to the entire country soon, according to the SHA management.

The Authority’s acting Chief Executive Officer; Robert Ingasira has confirmed this new development which involves the expectant mothers enjoying more benefits under the program beyond just free delivery. This includes teenage mothers.

“In this year’s budget we have the Linda Mama budget and that budget is the one that is going to help us pay for the expectant mothers together with the teenage mothers,” said Ingasira during an interview in Nairobi.

Determine eligibility

However, the beneficiaries of this program are required to register on the SHA system, and after a successful Means Testing to determine their eligibility, they will be enrolled.

This, he revealed follows the transformation of Linda Mama, which has also since been integrated into the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“So as they visit the hospitals, pregnant mothers will be required to register, and after doing that they will be taken through the means testing to determine their eligibility,” he pointed.

And once the means testing has been done, and it has been established that they require assistance, Ingasira said that their details will then be taken for enrolment in the indigent program.

“The government will then pay for them. So the current budget allocation we have is to help enrol pregnant mothers into this program,” he stated.