Abstract
Background Patients' satisfaction is an individual's positive assessment regarding a distinct dimension of healthcare and the perception about the quality of services offered in that health facility. Patients who are not satisfied with healthcare services in a certain health facility will bypass the facility and are unlikely to seek treatment in that facility. Objective To determine satisfaction level of mothers with the free maternal services in selected Kenyan public health facilities after the implementation of the free maternal healthcare policy. Methods Data was collected through a quantitative exit survey questionnaire. The respondents were mothers who had delivered in the health facilities and were waiting to leave the health facilities after discharge. The sample included 2,216 mothers in 77 public health facilities across 14 counties in Kenya under tier 3 and tier 4 categories. The number of respondents to be interviewed was proportionately arrived at based on each health facility's bed capacity. Results The study established a satisfaction rate of 54.5% among the beneficiaries of the free maternal healthcare services in the country. Mothers benefiting from the free delivery services were satisfied with communication by the healthcare workers, staff availability in the delivery rooms, availability of staff in the wards, and drug and supplies availability (>56%) but unsatisfied with consultation time, cleanliness, and privacy in the wards (<56%). High education levels and lengthy stay in healthcare facilities were negatively associated with the satisfaction with the free delivery services (P < 0.05). Conclusion There is a high satisfaction with the free maternal healthcare services in Kenya. However, the implementation of the free maternal healthcare policy was associated with low privacy, poor hygiene, and low consultation time in the health facilities. Therefore there is need to address these service gaps so as to attract more mothers to deliver in public health facilities.
Highlights
Patients’ satisfaction is an individual's positive assessment regarding a distinct dimension of healthcare and the perception about the quality of services offered in that health facility
Satisfaction in this study was based on the following variables: consultation time, communication, and attitude by the healthcare workers, staff availability in the delivery rooms, availability of staff in the wards, cleanliness in the health facilities, drug and supplies availability, and privacy in the wards
89% of the respondents were Christians while 9.7% were Muslims, 0.5% Hindus, 0.4% subscribed to traditional believes, and 0.4% belonged to other unspecified religions
Summary
Patients’ satisfaction is an individual's positive assessment regarding a distinct dimension of healthcare and the perception about the quality of services offered in that health facility. To determine satisfaction level of mothers with the free maternal services in selected Kenyan public health facilities after the implementation of the free maternal healthcare policy. There is a high satisfaction with the free maternal healthcare services in Kenya. Kenya is still struggling to reduce maternal mortality rate in the country which stands at 362 deaths for every 100,000 live births [5]. This high maternal mortality rate has been partially attributed to unskilled deliveries in the country (38%) which are conducted outside health facilities [5]. Low utilization of maternal healthcare services in Sub-Saharan Africa
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