The Perceptions of Mothers on the Use of Non- Skilled Maternal Healthcare in Kenya

Forty three percent (43%) of deliveries in Kenya takes place under the supervision of skilled attendants. But the Nyanza province in Western Kenya still registers lower proportions of facility deliveries (34 percent). But in Siaya district of the Nyanza province, only 30 percent of mothers utilize skilled maternal health care. A sequential exploratory mixed study was conducted in Uranga, North Alego and Karemo divisions of Siaya district and interviewed 1197 mothers who had home deliveries a year prior to the study. Another 11 key informants were interviewed comprising community specialists in the Luo traditional maternal healthcare medicine, skilled health workers serving in the facilities located in each of the three divisions; traditional Luo medicine men and women; and religious maternal health care providers who also doubled as spiritual overseers within their divisions. The objective of the study was to establish the perceptions of mothers on the use of non-skilled maternal healthcare. The study established the frequencies and the effect size of the selected variables whose relationships were measured and indicated by the p value of the Wald statistics in a multinomial regression model. The Wald chi-square p value <0.05 indicated significant results while qualitative data was manually analyzed by condensing and organizing responses in meta cards, teasing them out into common themes and then clustering them in tandem with the objective of the study. Each cluster was partitioned and coded (from a code list, which the researcher and the team developed) then the emerging phrases were summarized, compressed and assembled to draw conclusions and recommendations. The study found that as long as the skilled maternal healthcare system remain ineffective in providing accepted remedies related to correcting and reversing taboos, abominations, curses and healing the spiritual being of the mothers, then the mothers will continue utilizing the non skilled maternal care.