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Background Postnatal depression (PND) is a universal mental health problem that prevents mothers’ optimal existence and mothering. Although research has shown high PND prevalence rates in Africa, including Kenya, little research has been conducted to determine the contributing factors, especially in low-resource communities. Objective This study aimed to investigate the PND risk factors among mothers attending Lang’ata and Riruta Maternal and Child Health Clinics (MCH) in the slums, Nairobi. Methods This study was cross-sectional. It is part of a large study that investigated the effectiveness of a brief psychoeducational intervention on PND. Postnatal mothers (567) of 6-10 weeks postanatal formed the study population. Depression rate was measured using the original 1961 Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). In addition, a sociodemographic questionnaire (SDQ) was used to collect hypothesized risk variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore predictors of PND. Results The overall prevalence of PND in the sample of women was 27.1%. Women aged 18-24 (β = 2.04 95% C.I.[0.02; 4.05], p = 0.047), dissatisfied with body image (β = 4.33 95% C.I.[2.26; 6.41], p < 0.001), had an unplanned pregnancy (β = 2.31 95% C.I.[0.81; 3.80], p = 0.003 and felt fatigued (β = − 1.85 95% C.I.[− 3.50; 0.20], p = 0.028) had higher odds of developing PND. Participants who had no stressful life events had significantly lower depression scores as compared to those who had stressful life events (β = − 1.71 95% C.I.[− 3.30; − 0.11], p = 0.036) when depression was treated as a continuous outcome. Sensitivity analysis showed that mothers who had secondary and tertiary level of education had 51 and 73% had lower likelihood of having depression as compared to those with a primary level of education (A.O.R = 0.49 95% C.I.[0.31-0.78], p = 0.002) and (A.O.R = 0.27 95% C.I.[0.09-0.75], p = 0.013) respectively. Conclusion This study reveals key predictors/risk factors for PND in low-income settings building upon the scanty data. Identifying risk factors for PND may help in devising focused preventive and treatment strategies.

BackgroundPostnatal depression (PND) is a universal mental health problem that prevents mothers' optimal existence and mothering. Although research has shown high PND prevalence rates in Africa, including Kenya, little research has been conducted to determine the contributing factors, especially in low-resource communities.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the PND risk factors among mothers attending Maternal and Child Health Clinics (MCH) in the slums, Nairobi.MethodsThis study is cross-sectional, which is a part of a larger study. A sample of 567 mothers of 6-10 weeks postnatal from two Maternal and Child Health (MCH) formed the study population. The Depression rate was measured using the original 1961 Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). In addition, a sociodemographic questionnaire (SDQ) was used to collect hypothesized risk variables. Results The PND prevalence rate was 27.1%. Women with: unplanned pregnancy (AOR=1.87, 95% CI 1.02, 3.43), unemployed (AOR=4.43, 95% CI 1.01, 19.76), dissatisfied with body image (AOR=2.51, 95% CI 1.21, 5.19) and feeling fatigued (AOR=2.02, 95% CI 1.06, 3.85) had higher odds of developing PND. ConclusionThis study builds upon scarce previous studies on PND from low-income countries. Identifying specific PND risk factors may help in devising targeted prophylactic and therapeutic strategies.

This chapter discusses the evolution of the network structure of Kenya’s overnight market. It applies several measurements derived from network theory to uncover some key microstructure characteristics and the nature of the interbank market segmentation. An important issue is to understand what opportunities and challenges the structure of the interbank network presents for liquidity management and stability of the banking system. The results reveal a fragmented market, consisting of local clusters with hub-like and periphery banks. These features seem to become more prominent with time. Although the interbank structure is largely incomplete (density of about 0.25), each bank can be linked to all other banks in the network in no more than three steps. While this may imply that the core potentially provides an efficient shortcut for most peripheral banks for accessing liquidity in the network, the short-path length suggests that contagion can also spread with ease.

Background: Many boys and girls in developing countries transition to adolescence undernourished, making them more vulnerable to disease and mortality. Growth during adolescence is faster than any other period of life leading to increased requirements for both macro- and micronutrient. High vulnerability to undernutrition has been expressed more on adolescent girls despite similar stage of growth for both males and females. This necessitates more information on gender influence on undernutrition and dietary practices especially in resource poor environments with rich cultural practices such as pastoral Samburu community in Kenya.Methods: The study design is cross sectional with both quantitative and qualitative components for in-depth understanding of the parameters in context of the target population that targeted 490 male and female adolescents based on probability proportionate to population size. Simple random sampling method was used to reach adolescent respondents in each cluster in Samburu Central sub-county. Questionnaires, in-depth interview, and Focus Group Discussion guides were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed and presented descriptively as frequencies and percentages and inferentially as odds ratio, Chi-square and t-test. Content analysis was done on qualitative data and information triangulated with quantitative data for in-depth understanding of the context of study findings, Results: Low education level was observed among the adolescents where 21.9% dropped out of primary school while 21.9% completed primary education. There was no difference in gender distribution in both primary and secondary schools’ enrolment (χ2, p> 0.05). The married adolescents were more likely to be females than males (χ2, p<0.001). The adolescents aged 10-14 years were two times more likely to be underweight compared to 15–19-year-old (OR,2.101; CI,1.331-3.317; P=0.001). Males aged 15-19 years associated with underweight (χ2, p=0.049). Females had significantly higher Mean Dietary Diversity Score (MDDS) at 3.93±1.39 compared to 3.59±1.40 of their male counterparts (t-test, p=0.007). Male adolescents (59.9%) were more likely to consume less than 4 food groups compared to the 35.3% female counterparts (χ2, p<0.001). Conclusion: Adolescents are vulnerable to malnutrition that is associated to poor dietary practices and nutrient inadequacies that are further compromised by cultural gender roles that place the male adolescent at a higher risk. Culture sensitive strategies are recommended to reduce malnutrition and all its forms in this population group