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State spending on free maternity hits Sh5.3bn
Mrs Tessie Musalia Mudavadi (left), Spouse to the Prime Cabinet Secretary, talking to expectant and lactating mothers. PHOTO | NMG
Government spending on free maternity delivery grew by 41.7 percent to a record Sh5.37 billion in the financial year ended June 2023 as the number of beneficiaries for normal and surgical procedures neared the one million mark.
Data from the Ministry of Health (MoH) shows the total spending on normal and Caesarean section deliveries under Linda Mama rose from Sh3.79 billion used in the previous year. The amount stood at Sh4.95 billion in 2020/21.
The Sh5.37 billion is the highest ever in a single financial year for the programme that was introduced in 2013 to address the high maternal sicknesses and mortality which at the time stood at 362 deaths per 100,000 live births.
More than 1.2 million expectant mothers were registered for the programme and 927,102 relied on it for deliveries in the review period, with 65 percent of the beneficiaries attending at least four ante-natal care visits.
Total spending on normal deliveries rose by 28.3 percent from Sh1.98 billion to Sh2.53 billion while that of CS grew by 27.4 percent to Sh763.3 million.
Inpatient services to expectant mothers amounted to Sh1.42 billion, an 89.6 percent rise from Sh747.3 million used in the preceding period.
Ante-natal care spending grew to Sh571.7 million from Sh426.5 million while post-natal care more than doubled to Sh84.36 million from Sh41.86 million.
“Increase in the antenatal care coverage is positively associated with increase in use of skilled care during birth,” said the ministry.
The government transferred Sh4.1 billion to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) during the review period, adding to the Sh2 billion balance that had been carried forward from the previous financial year.
The NHIF administers the programme by receiving funds from the government through the Ministry of Health, registering eligible women, contracting facilities and reimbursing the providers.
Cumulatively, the government has transferred Sh23.74 billion to the programme and Sh22.99 billion was spent on the beneficiaries, with normal deliveries taking up Sh12.5 billion or 54.4 percent of the spending.
According to the ministry, 62 percent of births in Kenya are delivered under the supervision of a skilled birth attendant, which is still below the international target of 90 percent.
Traditional birth attendants continue to assist with 28 percent of births, relatives, and friends with 21 percent while in seven percent of births, mothers receive no assistance at all.
