Accessibility Analysis of Childbirth Service Centers Using Geospatial Techniques in Rural Magadi, Kenya

Abstract

Accessibility to childbirth services is a necessity despite geographic, demographic and socio-economic origin. The distribution pattern between health facilities and households in rural areas is not as extensively researched as those of urban areas, especially pastoral communities. Challenges in accessing social amenities including childbirth service centres are dominant. This study aims to assess the spatial accessibility between the location of households and the location of the childbirth health facility in Magadi Ward. The study employed geospatial techniques to visualize the spatial distribution of households and health facilities; and the road connectivity between them. To represent the variation, accessibility zones were modelled using the Euclidean distance tool. Buffer analysis was also conducted to indicate the relationship between the served and unserved areas in regard to the five kilometres Ministry of Health recommended radius. Coordinates of 246 households were randomly picked from the eight community unit clusters in the Magadi ward. The findings revealed the number of women who delivered at health facilities to be 38.2%, while those who delivered at home were 61.8% contrary to the majority being within the service area of the buffer. The most accessible zones were located in the central and upper western parts of Magadi Ward. The utilization of antenatal and postnatal care services and health facilities for the place of delivery differed significantly. The results indicate the poor use of health facilities as a place of delivery for women who utilized childbirth services in the last year, prior to data collection. This provides valuable information and location-based evidence of low access to health facilities for childbirth services, and therefore, offers guidance on sound decision making and strategies to improve on the accessibility of childbirth services.