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The Government has set aside Sh220 million to support the free maternity services programme in public hospitals.
This follows concerns by some counties that the burden of paying the fees had been left to them by the national government.
In Nairobi County, Governor Evans Kidero had last week warned of scrapping free maternity services, saying they had not been reimbursed Sh165 million spent in offering the service.
A communication from Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri revealed the disbursement during a consultation meeting between him and Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya.
Financial processes
"The two parties discussed ways of fast-tracking the financial processes and data reporting in order to avoid delays in future disbursement," said Dr Muraguri.
The money covers deliveries done in the primary level facilities at Sh2,500 per delivery, levels 4 and 5 hospitals at Sh5,000 per delivery and level 6 hospitals at Sh17,500 per delivery.
The fund is a conditional grant to counties, channelled through a facility reimbursement system based on deliveries reported.
In the financial year (2015/2016), Sh4.3 billion will be released to support counties in service delivery.
"Delivering in a heath facility is important to both mothers and newborns as they are protected from infections and complications can be identified and managed in good time," said Muraguri in a statement to newsrooms yesterday.
"The programme has so far been a major success and has seen the proportion of mothers delivering in heath facilities increase from 44 to 66 per cent," he added.
The Government further reiterated its support for the programme.
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