dc.description.abstract | Adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes disproportionately afflict low and middle-income
countries, which experience high-unmet need for safe and skilled attendance at birth. This study
sought to investigate how choices for place of birth are made in Kenya during the era of the national
maternal subsidy. The study employed data from the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2014 and
involved data from women who experienced a birth around the era of the maternity subsidy. When
probit regression models were estimated, maternal age, the woman’s and partner’s education, paid
employment, higher household economic status, reduced parity, low county poverty headcount
rate, access to medical insurance, access to complementary reproductive services and the period
during the maternity subsidy were associated with increased likelihood to choose deliveries in
public and private health facilities. These findings imply that investments, which prevent early
pregnancies, reduce domestic and national poverty, increase education attainment, expand
autonomy of women and promote access of the continuum of reproductive health services can
optimize choice making in favor of institutional births during the era of the maternity subsidy. | en_US |