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{
    "id": 1419532,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1419532/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 233,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Who knows? Pregnancy is a very interesting act of nature and sometimes we might not know when we are pregnant because it is in God's control. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we are pushing this Bill, I was wondering who is going to play oversight. Allow me a few minutes to talk about the oversight that we play as nominated Senators. We are legislating on Bills that touch on women. If passed to law, someone with the understanding of what it means to be a mother, to lose a child or bleed sometimes for three weeks after childbirth, has to go and ensure that indeed, those policies that county governments are putting in place under maternal healthcare and the regulations that will be drafted on this piece of legislation, are followed. Someone has to go and oversight. The women in this House should not be taken for granted. There are some issues that we pick up as women legislators that can sometimes be missed by our men legislators, not because they do not have the understanding, but because, as I said, it is only us women who can give birth, and so, it is only us who understand the needs when it comes to issues as maternal healthcare. I urge Sen. Ogola, as we move forward, perhaps to look at an amendment that will ensure that the oversight role that is supposed to be taken care of by this House, will touch--- Since both Sen. Ogolla and I are nominated to represent women, these are some of the key issues that we should be looking at when we are doing our oversight. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is so shocking in 2024, to go to some of these institutions and look at the equipment they are using, and there is absolutely no upgrade in the innovation of equipment. I hear our Cabinet Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy talking about the era of digital super highways and all these digital things. I always wonder whether they are looking at the element of the digital economy with regard to the healthcare sector and maternal health. We have incidences of some women who do not want to be a particular antenatal clinic, so they keep hopping around. If we had a database of monitoring all our pregnant women from the time they register the pregnancy to when they go to for their first antenatal visit, we would be able to send reminders to some of those women who are so busy and tell them to come for antenatal clinics when they are about to clock the third trimester. This is where the digital world would come in. I know you have asked me whether I am pregnant, and I have told you that I do not know. I have not seen anything in terms of the use of innovation to improve on maternal health, including things that the first world countries are dealing with. I have had the privilege of living in four European countries, one of them being Denmark. I can tell you how the Danes treat their pregnant women, no wonder they are the happiest in the world. They are treated with respect, care and high admiration because they are bringing forth life to this world. Even the element of dignity and respect should be legislated because I feel as though our society has forgotten that without all these women, humanity will be finished. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}