Maternal Health and Postpartum Care in Urban Kenyan Slums: The Impact of a Community-Based Intervention

Maternal health outcomes in urban Kenyan slums are often suboptimal due to a combination of poverty, lack of access to healthcare facilities, and cultural practices that may hinder effective postpartum care. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, including quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with participants from the intervention area and control areas. Data collection was conducted over a period of one year using standardised questionnaires and focus group discussions. Findings indicate that the community-based intervention led to an increase in postnatal visits by healthcare providers by 25% compared to the control area (p < 0.01), with significant improvements observed in breastfeeding initiation rates among mothers of infants under six months old. The study concludes that a targeted community-based intervention can effectively enhance maternal health and postpartum care services in urban Kenyan slums, thereby improving overall health outcomes for expectant women and their newborns. Recommendations include scaling up successful interventions to broader populations, integrating these practices into existing healthcare systems, and continuing research to refine and evaluate intervention strategies. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.