Factors associated with quality of intrapartum care in Kenya: a complex samples analysis of the 2022 Kenya demographic and health survey

About half of the women received quality intrapartum care in Kenya, with demographic characteristics seeming to be the main drivers of quality intrapartum care. Although the Kenyan government abolished maternity services fees in all public facilities, there is still a need to empower women through increasing access to education and economic development initiatives for their economic independence. This will enable mothers to pay transport fares to health facilities for those in hard-to-reach rural settings and buy other hospital delivery requirements (e.g., surgical gloves) that may not be available in rural public health facilities, thus increasing access to skilled birth attendance and quality intrapartum care as a whole. Its also worth noting, since Kenya is moving towards provision of quality intrapartum care, more and proper indicators of clinical intrapartum care need to be captured in future DHS studies. This will enable comprehensive assessment of the quality of intrapartum in view of informing maternal health care policy in Kenya and other countries.