International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | May 2024 | Vol 11 | Issue 5 Page 1815 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Kaprom BC et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2024 May;11(5):1815-1821 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Effect of traditional birth attendants-led health education intervention on utilization of skilled birth care in West Pokot County, Kenya Benadette C. Kaprom 1 *, Kenneth Ngure 2 , Susan Mambo 1 INTRODUCTION The world health organization (WHO) vision, moving beyond 2015, which envisions a world where every pregnant woman and new-born receives quality care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, is in alignment with two complementary global action agenda conceptualized by WHO and partners in 2013- 2014 strategies, namely towards ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM) and every new-born action plan (ENAP). This strategy is articulated at a critical time when the global community is developing the new global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescent’s health (2016-2030) for the post-2015 sustainable development goal (SDG) era. 1 Over 70% of maternal deaths occur because of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Effective care to prevent and manage complications during this critical period is likely to have a ABSTRACT Background: Globally, between 2000 and 2017, maternal mortality ratio declined by 38%, with global lifetime risk of maternal death falling from 1 in 73 to 1 in 180, respectively. In West Pokot County, Kenya, over half of deliveries are managed by traditional birth attendants. The study investigated the effect of TBAs-led intervention on utilization of skilled birth care in this County. Methods: The study employed a prospective experimental design. In the intervention arm, TBAs were recruited and trained on SBC. They were assigned expectant mothers and followed until they delivered their babies. Chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between variables. Binary logistic regression was used to compare utilization of SBC between the intervention and control sites. Results: Majority of mothers (95%) in the intervention arm of the study went for TBAs’ services , and 79.5% of those in the control did the same. Most mothers in the intervention (81.4%) delivered in health care facility compared to 58.2% in the control (χ2=21.256, p<0.001). There was a significant difference in the odds of mothers utilizing SBC between intervention and control groups. Those in the intervention group were almost 3 times more likely to utilize SBC than those in the control group (UOR; 95% CI: 3.137; 1.909-5.155). Conclusions: TBAs-led intervention increased utilization of SBC among mothers in the intervention compared to those in the control arm who utilized available ministry of health’s standard care. Keywords: Traditional birth attendants, Skilled birth care, Traditional birth attendants’-led intervention, Maternal and child health 1 Department of Environmental Health and Disease Control, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, City Square, Nairobi, Kenya 2 Department of Community Health, School of Public Health, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, City Square, Nairobi, Kenya Received: 02 March 2024 Revised: 12 April 2024 Accepted: 15 April 2024 *Correspondence: Benadette C. Kaprom, E-mail: bkaprom@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20241173