Demand for maternal health services: An analysis of contraceptives uptake in Kenya

Abstract

Maternal health is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for health and despite the continued commitment by the Kenyan government and different stakeholders including donor community to the promotion and provision of adequate reproductive health services, several factors impede the demand for and utilization of reproductive health care as evidenced by the high level of unmet need of family planning, level of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. This study analyzed factors that influence the demand for maternal health services with a main focus on contraceptives uptake in Kenya. To achieve these objectives, the study used both descriptive and binary probit regression model to explore the demographic and socio-economic factors that influence usage of contraceptives in Kenya. The study used secondary data obtained from the recent Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS, 2014) which has national information on contraceptives uptake. Whereas the default level of testing statistical significance was 95% (α = 0.05), the findings indicated that 5 of the 11 independent variables showed high level of significance towards influencing contraceptive use (P-values < 0.01). These were: the age of the woman; exposure to maternal education; level of household income (wealth index); cultures and beliefs; and level of access to information (via mass media). On the other hand, 3 of the 11 independent variables showed significance at 95% level. These were: the occupational status of the woman; the size of the household; and gender of the household head. The remaining three variables did not show significance at either 95% or 99% i.e. age at first marriage, marital status and the level of language proficiency. The study recommends that female reproductive health education be introduced to adolescents in schools so that they can use this knowledge to make better and informed decisions. Also, the government of Kenya should aim at bridging the poverty gap that exists and constraints women from poorest wealth quintiles from affording contraceptive services given the high fertility rates that exist in these area