We sleep hungry: How pregnant women fight for care

At around 3pm, we arrived in a village in Dukana area of Marsabit County. The sun had dipped past its highest point, the light had softened into a warm glow and long shadows stretched across the ground, which still radiated intense heat.

After five hours on a dusty road from Marsabit town, we stepped out of the vehicle into a wave of heat and the distant sound of women singing and ululating. Down the hill, through the glare, we could make out a circle of women dancing outside a Manyatta. We were told they were celebrating the birth of child, offering support, respect and honour to the new mother.

After greeting the women, radiant in their colourful kangas, we walked inside to meet the mother. Near the entrance, three women sat around the firewood, preparing food. Further in, past the partition separating the kitchen from the sleeping area, we found Talaso Jarso, the new mother, cradling her hours-old-baby.

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