Socioeconomic Determinants of Uptake of Who-recommended Antenatal Care Visits Among Pregnant Women in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

Globally and in Kenya, morbidity and mortality of mother and new-born are a priority public health problem. This led to countries to improve on maternal and child health status. In Makueni County has specifically been prioritizing the health sector by allocating significant amount of its county allocation to health that had improvement of the health outcomes being monitored through health indicators; however, antenatal care (ANC) uptake was 67% below World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended coverage of 90%. The study generated a point estimate of ANC and determined factors affecting ANC uptake to inform policy. Secondary data was used which had been generated by Performance, Measurement and Action (PMA) to determine social economic factors affecting uptake of ANC. The study used binary Probit model to determine the significant factors which affected the attendance of ANC services. The study found that quality of services, education, wealth, age, residence, parity, and attitude of health care workers were statistically significant which influenced the current pattern of the ANC visits during pregnancy in Makueni County. The uptake of ANC services was not associated with religion nor marital status. The study suggested that comprehensive education services on the benefits of ANC services be incorporated into public health intervention programs to enhance pregnant women's and their families' health seeking behaviour for enhanced maternal and child health. To increase uptake, interventions aimed at empowering women, removing obstacles to accessing ANC, educating pregnant women about their health, and improving the quality metric in ANC programming should be put into place. The study also revealed disparities in resident and marital status, indicating that women of reproductive age are particularly vulnerable. As a result, the department of health should implement targeted interventions, such as lowering costs and enhancing services for these women who live in rural areas and are divorced.