The white sand beaches of one of Kenya’s most popular tourist areas line an area with one of the country’s highest rates of deaths around childbirth. The Associated Press traveled to Kilifi County for the funeral of one of the latest women to die. Her family said she had been healthy but bled heavily during birth and had to wait several hours before being transported over rough roads to a larger health center. But the operation there came too late. Residents blame a shortage of resources and a lack of information about why so many pregnant women die. (AP video by Jackson Njehia)Esther Bendera, center, mourns beside the coffin of her daughter, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Nixon Charo, father of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, casts a handful of soil into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Adams Kahindi, center, mourns beside the coffin of his wife, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)The white sand beaches of one of Kenya’s most popular tourist areas line an area with one of the country’s highest rates of deaths around childbirth. The Associated Press traveled to Kilifi County for the funeral of one of the latest women to die. Her family said she had been healthy but bled heavily during birth and had to wait several hours before being transported over rough roads to a larger health center. But the operation there came too late. Residents blame a shortage of resources and a lack of information about why so many pregnant women die. (AP video by Jackson Njehia)Esther Bendera, center, mourns beside the coffin of her daughter, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Esther Bendera, center, mourns beside the coffin of her daughter, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Nixon Charo, father of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, casts a handful of soil into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Nixon Charo, father of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, casts a handful of soil into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Mourners gather as the casket of 29 years old Penina Zawadi, who died from complications while giving birth, is lowered into her grave during her funeral in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Adams Kahindi, center, mourns beside the coffin of his wife, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)Adams Kahindi, center, mourns beside the coffin of his wife, Penina Zawadi, who died from complications related to childbirth, in Kilifi County, Kenya, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Wachira)KILIFI, Kenya (AP) — As Penina Zawadi was wheeled to the operating room for a cesarean section, she gave her mother her jewelry for safekeeping, along with a reassuring word: She would have a safe delivery.An hour later, a nurse handed Esther Bendera her newborn grandson. But her daughter did not return. Her family said the 29-year-old Zawadi bled heavily after birth and was sent to another hospital to have her uterus removed, a last-ditch measure. She spent several days in intensive care before dying on June 23.
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