Barriers to access of maternal health commodities among pregnant women in public health facilities in Ubungo Municipal Council, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Access to maternal health commodities improves maternal outcome and reduce maternal deaths. Tanzania has put in place the fee exemption policy for mothers to access maternal health commodities for free, however, the implementation of user fee exemption has been challenging. Therefore, this study explored the barriers to access of maternal health commodities among pregnant women in public health facilities at Ubungo Municipal Council, Tanzania.

METHODS: This was a descriptive qualitative study conducted from January to February 2023. Both focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted. These involved 72 pregnant women and 40 health care providers respectively. A purposive sampling technique was used to selected facilities and study participants. Thematic analysis was used to analysis data.

RESULTS: Findings from this study indicated that fear of stigma and discrimination, decision-making autonomy, additional costs and stock out of health commodities were the main barriers to accessing maternal health commodities. Furthermore, both pregnant women and health care providers reported that shortage of health commodities and the inadequacy of service providers, which led to long waiting times, also hinder access to health commodities.

CONCLUSION: Improving health commodities availability, and increasing the number of service providers are important factors to consider to improve access to maternal health commodities. In addition, factors such as fear of stigma and discrimination should also be addressed to improve maternal health.