Utilisation of Maternal Health Services by Adolescent Mothers in Kenya: Analysis of the Demographic Health Survey 2008 - 2009

Background Many Kenyan adolescents die following pregnancy and childbirth complications. Maternal health services (MHS) utilisation is key to averting such poor outcomes. Our objectives were to understand the characteristics of adolescent mothers in Kenya, describe their MHS utilisation pattern and explore factors that influence this pattern. Methods We collected demographic and MHS utilisation data of all 301 adolescent mothers aged 15–19 years included in the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008/2009. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise them and their MHS utilisation patterns. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to test associations between selected predictor variables and MHS utilisation. Findings 86%, 48% and 86% of adolescent mothers used ante-natal care (ANC), skilled birth attendance (SBA) and postnatal care (PNC) respectively. Adolescent mothers from the richest quintile were nine (CI=2.00-81.24,p=0.001) and seven (CI=3.22-16.22,p<0.001) times more likely to use ANC and SBA respectively compared to those from the poorest. Those with primary education were four (CI=1.68-9.64,p<0.001) and two (CI=0.97-4.81,p=0.043) times more likely to receive ANC and SBA respectively compared to uneducated mothers, with similar significant findings amongst their partners. Urban adolescent mothers were six (CI=1.89-32.45,p=0.001) and four (CI=2.00-6.20,p