Influence of Resource Availability on the Implementation of Linda Mama Maternal Health Project in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

The Linda Mama project was established to eliminate financial barriers to accessing health services in public hospitals to encourage women to utilize facility-based deliveries hence ensuring safe deliveries and consequently the reduction of maternal and neonatal deaths. Andersen Health Behavior Model and the Health Belief Model and employed a descriptive research design. The study targeted mothers seeking maternal services from public hospitals, health professionals working in public hospitals in Kitui County and key informants (Nurse Managers in Charge of health Services). 94 human resource and 99 maternal health beneficiaries while purposive sampling was used to identify 5 Nurse Managers in charge of services. Self-administered questionnaires and key informant interviews were used to collect data. Findings of the study showed that public hospitals in Kitui County receive inadequate reimbursement of funds which are not disbursed on time affecting the ability of hospitals to cater for all the maternal healthcare services, provide the required supplies and plan for the provision of maternal services; Public hospitals have variety of qualified hospital staff, however there is a shortage of hospital staff resulting in a high workload and delays in attending to mothers; Even though public hospitals in Kitui County had essential maternal medical facilities, these facilities are inadequate in proportion to the number of women seeking maternal services resulting in congestion and sharing of beds. The study also found out that dissemination of information by the government through mainstream media has created public awareness on the Linda Mama Maternity project effectively increasing utilization of the service and health facility-based deliveries. The study established that the independent variables (financial resource availability, human resource availability, medical facilities and availability of information awareness) account for 82.9% variation in the implementation of the Linda Mama Maternal Project. This study recommends that the government allocates more resources to the ministry of health in line with its commitment of 15% of the national budget under the Abuja declaration of 2001; the National and County Government prioritizes the staffing of public hospitals to address the shortage of hospital staff; and ensure the availability of adequate, appropriate and functional maternal medical facilities in all public hospitals.