Awareness and Utilization of Mother Child Health Booklet by Health Workers and Mothers in Western Kenya

Abstract

The mother child health booklet (MCHB) captures information from pregnancy until the child is five years of age. It has been adopted by many countries due to its many advantages. The aim of this study was to establish the level of awareness and utilization of the MCHB by the health workers and mothers in Western region of Kenya.  The objectives of the study were to: establish level of awareness among health workers and mothers and utilization of the MCHB by health workers and mothers. Purposive sampling strategy and systematic random sampling strategy were used. A total of 962 clients were sampled. Structured questionnaires, content observation checklist and key informants guides were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 20. Data was presented in modes, mean and percentages. The results indicate that the level of utilization of the MCHB is different depending on the indicator. Immunization was the most complete at 95%. Among the counties completeness was between 91.5% (216) in Busia and 98.8% (250) in Vihiga,p value 0.001. Under health worker consultation, 62.7% (614) was blank/never filled at all. Among counties, 62.6% (154), 48.6% (123), 64.8%7 (158), 75.8% (179) had not been filled in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia respectively. The age of the mothers was found to influence the number of ANC visits with the highest number of ANC visits being among the older cohort, p value 0.012. Overall, 93% delivered in a health facility with 6.8% home deliveries. The results of this study will be key in informing decisions about appropriate use of MCHB. Information obtained from this study will also be significant to the national reviewing of the booklet