Perceived Factors Influencing Uptake Of Linda Mama Maternal Healthcare Delivery Programme Among Women In Informal Settlements In Starehe Sub County, Kenya.

Abstract

Maternal health care delivery programmes in Kenya have been many majorly sponsored by the private sector and non-governmental organisations for a long time. The Linda Mama programme is because of the transfer of the Ministry of Health’s Free Maternity Services (FMS) to the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Linda Mama is a program that seeks to promote equity in uptake of maternal health delivery programs in Kenya. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate the perceived factors influencing uptake of the Linda Mama health care delivery programme among women in informal settlements. These perceived factors could be either positive or negative. The following specific objectives guided the study; to establish the extent to which demographic characteristics influence uptake of Linda Mama maternal health care delivery programme; to assess how the awareness of the programme influence the uptake of Linda Mama maternal health care delivery programme; to determine the extent to which attitude of the health care service provider influence uptake of Linda Mama maternal health care delivery programme; and to examine how quality of health care influence uptake of Linda Mama maternal health care delivery programme among women in informal settlement. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design.The population under this study entailed 80,309 (44,098 males) and (36, 620 females) living in Mathare slums as per 2009 Household Population Census and 433 medical practitioners in Pumwani Maternity Hospital. By applying the Yamane’s formula of sample size, with a confidence coefficient of 95% at an error of 5%, the researcher sampled out 396 respondents for this study. Questionnaires and key informant interview schedules were used to collect data from the respondents, which was then analysed using SPSS version 20 and presented in tables, charts and narratives. The content and criteria validity of the data collection tools was established through a pilot study over a population that did not participate in the main study. The questionnaire was considered reliable since it yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.784.The study findings that majority of the women within Mathare slums believe there is limited information available about the Linda Mama programme. They also acknowledge that women in Mathare understand the dangers associated with home delivery. In the same vein, they believe perceive that registration to the programme is cumbersome. The researcher found out that women in Mathare are happy about the attitude of their healthcare service providers although quite a substantial number were unsure. However, majority of the women were not certain of their experience in their last visit with a larger number indicating a good experience. In addition, the women acknowledge their right to decision making and thus reported that experiences from their xiii friends and community members will not influence their decision on uptake of Linda Mama programme. From the survey, the researcher found out that majority of women in Mathare slums are satisfied with Linda Mama services including the healthcare. However, their perception on the speed and efficiency of service delivery under the programme was evenly spread with mixed reactions. Nonetheless, a majority believe the services are slow and inefficient. This probably could be the contributing to the larger number of women that are sent to purchase additional drugs and other commodities as reported by a majority of the women in Mathare slums. This research established that majority of women in Mathare slums are not decided on whether to take-up the programme or not. They however acknowledge the good health of children delivered under this programme and the fact that the programme has contributed to reduced complications during delivery. The analysed regression model showed that; Uptake of Linda Mama programme among women in informal settlements= 4.34 (Awareness of Linda Mama programme) – 0.118 (Demographic background of the beneficiaries) + 0.155 (Attitude of healthcare service providers) - 0.424 (Quality of healthcare services in the health facilities).