Challenges Of Implementing The Free Maternal Healthcare Policy In Ghana: Experiences From The New Juabeng Municipality

Abstract This study investigated the implementation of the free maternal healthcare policy in Ghana with a focus on the constraints that impede the attainment of the policy’s goals. Using the qualitative approach, the case study strategy was deployed, with the New Juabeng Municipal as the case. Data was derived from multiple sources (interviews, focus group discussions and documentary reviews) and from different categories of persons (staff of health care facilities, service providers and district health insurance secretariat, beneficiaries and residents). The study found the policy has been implemented according to plan in the New Juabeng Municipality. Several measures have been instituted by officials and these include; free registration and renewal of NHIS cards for pregnant women, free antenatal medical care, free delivery and post-delivery vaccination, regular visit of midwives of CHPS compounds to pregnant women and regular publicity and education campaigns to notify women to register and renew their NHIS cards. These have resulted in high antenatal care and reduced maternal mortality in the municipality. In spite of the improvements however, a number of constrains were found. These include inadequate funding which led to delays in reimbursing service providers, inadequate equipment and health infrastructure, poor quality of service delivery and care at the facility-level and several other institutional bottlenecks. It was also established that weak collaboration and coordination between key partners and ministries affected the effectiveness of the policy. Also, lack of political will to provide the necessary resources to support the policy as well as undue politicization and its related issue of speaking ill of the policy by some politicians are key challenges. On the basis of these findings, some recommendations are made to improve the system. Establishing a legal framework that will commit policy makers to provide more resources to the program, and effective linkages and interactions between MDA’s which are directly or indirectly related with the implementation of the free maternal healthcare policy came out as vital.