Thesis:

Determinants of place of delivery among women of reproductive age seeking child welfare services in Kandara Subcounty, Murang’a

Maternal and child mortalities are among major health problems facing developing countries such as Kenya. Most of these deaths can be avoided by utilization of maternity healthcare services by women seeking delivery care services from health professionals. The aim of the study was to assess the determinants that influence the place of delivery among mothers seeking Child Welfare services in selected health facilities in Kandara Sub County. The researcher specifically did a study on how social demographic characteristics, knowledge on safe motherhood, attitude toward health facility delivery and accessibility to health facilities influenced the choice of place of delivery among mothers in Kandara Sub County. The researcher was cleared by the university ethics committee and by the administration of Murang’a County and of Kandara Sub County. On ethical issues the researcher ensured respondents privacy, confidentiality and anonymity throughout the entire research process. The study adopted a facility-based cross-sectional survey design using an interviewer guided questionnaire and Key Informant Interview (KII) to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The researcher pretested data collections tools in three health facilities that did not participate in the final study. The study population comprised of mothers recently delivered within a 12 month prio to the study and seeking Child Welfare services at the selected health facilities in the Sub County. Simple random and purposeful sampling methods were used to identify the facilities which participated in the study. The desired sample size was 352 respondents which were calculated using Fishers et al 1998 formula. Respondents were identified using systematic random sampling method. Data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version20 was used to analyze the quantitative data. Content analysis Qualitative data done and results triangulated with the quantitative data as per the study variables. The study found that social demographic (p value of 0.034), knowledge on safe delivery p value of (0.047), accessibility to delivery services (p value of 0.049) and attitude towards health facility delivery (0.050) had significantly positive influence on the choice of place for delivery. The study recommends appropriate strategies that will influence mothers to make informed choice for the place of delivery. These may include training on the need for skilled delivery and increase the number of health facilities offering maternity services