| dc.description.abstract | Maternal mortality continues to pose a significant public health challenge, with over 300,000 women
losing their lives annually during childbirth. In response, policymakers have implemented free maternal
healthcare services as a crucial policy intervention. In June 2013, the Kenyan Government introduced the
Linda Mama healthcare service, exempting maternal services from user fees across all public health facilities.
The primary objective was to encourage skilled delivery and ultimately reduce pregnancy-related mortality.
Despite these efforts only 26 percent of mothers In Kajiado North Sub-county aged 19 to 40 had enrolled for
the Linda Mama service, falling below both the national average of 61.5 percent and the government's target
of 100 percent. We conducted a study to investigate the barriers to uptake of the Linda Mama initiative and
utilization of services offered under the initiative. The proportion of uptake of Linda Mama Programme, how
socio-demographic, knowledge & perceptions and health system factors affect the uptake of the Linda Mama
Initiative were the specific objectives. This paper presents findings from a cross-sectional study conducted
between 2018 and 2020 in Kajiado North Sub-County, involving 551 participants. Descriptive statistics were
employed, alongside the Chi-Square test for inferential statistics. Correlation analysis was used to explore
how health system factors have influenced the uptake and utilization of the Linda Mama service. The results
reveal that respondents were generally aware of the government's policy on free maternal healthcare.
However, significant gaps persist in terms of infrastructure development, the ratio of health workers to
patients, timely provision of essential supplies, and the long distances to health facilities. These findings
underscore the urgent need for increased investment in infrastructure, as well as financial and human resource
allocation to the healthcare sector within County Governments | en_US |
