Duale: All teenage mothers to access free delivery services

Nancy Marende 30th September, 2025 03:36 PM

Caption:CS Duale says all teenage mothers will deliver for free. VIDEO/K24TV

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced that all teenage mothers in Kenya will be able to deliver free of charge under the Social Health Authority (SHA) programme.

Speaking at UMMA University on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, Duale highlighted the achievements of the SHA in supporting maternal health across the country.

“Today, Your Excellency, in nine months under SHA, 627,155 mothers have delivered in the Republic of Kenya. Our national delivery figure is about 1.1 million,” he said.

Duale explained that the SHA programme covers the entire maternal journey, from prenatal to postnatal care, ensuring safe deliveries and comprehensive follow-up.

“We covered the mother; we covered the whole journey, prenatal to postnatal. We made sure she delivered safely. If there was a complication, we took her through a Caesarean. We followed the child; we followed the family,” he noted.

He revealed that out of the total deliveries, 41,000 were teenage mothers whose costs were fully covered under SHA.

“In fact, all teenage mothers in our country, if they deliver, will deliver free,” Duale declared.

“What does that mean? Under President Ruto, we have introduced a more integrated system with financial protection for all families,” he added.

The CS also defended the Linda Mama service delivery while firmly stating that the service has instead been improved.

“The benefits of Linda Mama have not been scrapped; nobody has scrapped Linda Mama,” Duale said.

Health CS Aden Duale speaking at UMMA University in Kajiado on September 30, 2025. PHOTO/@HonAdenDuale/X

According to the Health CS, the Ministry of Health has enhanced the Linda Mama cover by adding the family and the children, unlike the past cover that only covered the mother.

“But what we have done is enhanced the cover of Linda, specifically of the mother, and added the family and the children,” Duale said.

Defends transition

While giving a detailed explanation on the enhancement, Duale revealed that in the previous cover, mothers were given stipends of up to Ksh5000 and that they could only access facilities that are dispensaries and health centres.

“We were only taking care of the mother by giving her the care of Ksh2000, or Ksh5000, and they could only access facilities that are dispensaries and health centres,” Duale explained.

Duale further confirmed that the ministry has included antenatal, postnatal, and delivery while giving the whole family a package under the enhanced Linda Jamii cover.

“We have enhanced it; we have included antenatal, postnatal, and delivery, and we have given the whole family that package,” Duale firmly stated.