EFFECTS OF THE FREE MATERNITY CARE PROGRAM ON CLIENT SATISFACTION AT A COUNTY REFERRAL HOSPITAL IN KENYA.

Maternal mortality is a serious problem particularly in resource strained countries including Kenya. Many countries have come up with various reproductive health interventions with the aim of reducing the maternal mortality. In Kenya, one such key intervention was the introduction of the Free Maternity care program whose objective was to increase access and improve utilization of maternity services with the aim of reducing maternal mortality. This study aimed at establishing the effects of Free Maternity Care program (FMC) on the level of client satisfaction on quality of care in the era of free maternity care program at Kakamega County Referral Hospital. It was a Hospital based cross-sectional descriptive design involving 223 post natal mothers selected systematically. Questionnaire and interview schedule were the main data collection tools. Independent t-test and chi-square were used in analysis which was done by use of SPSS V. 20. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Majority of the clients interviewed were satisfied with the services offered. Higher proportion of those with lower education level were satisfied compared to those with higher levels of education (77.1% vs. 56.3%, χ2=10.841, p=0.001). In conclusion, the administrators, health care providers and the clients all agreed that the program was satisfactory despite some challenges which needed to be addressed by the policy makers. Efforts should therefore be made to sustain the Free Maternity Care program including the policy makers addressing the challenges.