Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Innovations for Poverty Action

Titre : The Impact of Cash Transfers on Delivery Planning and Maternal Care Quality in Kenya

Région /Pays : Kenya

Date : 2015-2017

Résumé
Many pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to high-quality health care. Researchers evaluated whether cash transfers and decision-making nudges could help low-income pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya deliver where they wanted and in a high-quality facility. They found that cash transfers, conditioned on precommitment to a delivery facility, led to more effective birth planning and increased the likelihood that women delivered at higher-quality facilities.

Présentation
Each year, 1.3 million mothers and newborns in sub-Saharan Africa die from complications related to childbirth. Structural barriers – including information gaps regarding when to seek care, financial constraints, hospital overcrowding, and low-quality facilities – may hinder a woman’s ability to receive timely and adequate healthcare before and during labor. Additionally, research indicates that women, particularly in low-income countries, often decide where to deliver very late into their pregnancies. Such delays can reduce delivery safety by making it harder for healthcare staff to detect and manage any delivery complications. To address these barriers, researchers designed two interventions to evaluate whether cash transfers and decision-making nudges could incentivize earlier and more effective delivery planning and help women deliver in higher quality facilities.

Taille de l’échantillon  : 553 women

Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA)