Kenyan women living longer as maternal health improves, survey shows

By  Kamau Maichuhie

Gender Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• The survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics points to notable gains in women’s health and quality of life over the past four years, including safer motherhood, greater access to skilled birth attendants and a decline in teenage pregnancies.

Kenyan women are living longer, with improved access to healthcare and reproductive health services, according to the 2025/2026 Kenya Mini Demographic and Health Survey released on Wednesday.

The survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) points to notable gains in women’s health and quality of life over the past four years, including safer motherhood, greater access to skilled birth attendants and a decline in teenage pregnancies.

It shows that the probability of a girl aged 15 dying before reaching 50 has fallen by more than 70 per cent compared with the 2022 survey.

On maternal health, the proportion of women delivering in health facilities rose to 91 per cent, up from 88 per cent in 2022. Skilled health personnel attended 92 per cent of births, reflecting continued improvement in access to professional maternity care.

Pregnancy-related deaths also declined, with the survey putting the mortality ratio at 287 deaths per 100,000 live births, down from 355 in the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

Antenatal care coverage improved, with 72 per cent of pregnant women making at least four visits, compared with 66 per cent previously.

Teenage pregnancies also fell. The proportion of girls aged 15 to 19 who had begun childbearing dropped to 11.9 per cent from 14.8 per cent in 2022, a decline that could help more adolescent girls stay in school, pursue further education and improve their prospects for economic independence.

Overall, the findings highlight progress in maternal healthcare, reproductive health and women’s survival, although sustained investment in accessible, quality health services remain important.

Dr Macdonald Obudho, KNBS director general, said the data would provide an important basis for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating population, health and development programmes at national and county levels. He said the findings would also help assess ongoing health interventions, particularly the Universal Health Coverage programme, and guide county health planning, resource allocation and alignment with national priorities.

Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga welcomed the improvement in maternal health outcomes but cautioned that more work was needed. He cited a decline in the maternal mortality ratio to 263 deaths per 100,000 live births, the first time the figure had dropped from the 300 range but said Kenya remained far from its target of 70 or fewer deaths per 100,000 live births.

The survey also sheds light on why Kenyan women are having fewer children. The national fertility rate fell to 3.1 children per woman, from 3.4 in 2022.

Education, household wealth and place of residence remain significant determinants of fertility. Rural women have an average of 3.6 children, compared with 2.6 among urban women. Women with no formal education have an average of 5.4 children, nearly twice the 2.7 among those with secondary education. Women from the poorest households have 4.5 children on average, compared with 2.3 among the wealthiest.

There are also wide county variations: Mandera has the highest fertility rate at 6.8 children per woman, while Embu has the lowest at 2.2. According to KNBS, 31 of the 47 counties have fertility rates above the national average.

Women are also spacing pregnancies further apart, with the median interval between births rising to 48.3 months from 43.1 months in 2022.

Rosemary Bowen, director of the Population and Social Statistics Directorate at KNBS, said the figures demonstrated wide disparities in childbearing patterns across the country.

Data were collected between November 5, 2025, and February 10, 2026, from a nationally representative sample of 29,935 households selected from the Kenya Household Master Sample Frame. The survey provides national estimates, with separate breakdowns for rural and urban populations and county-level estimates for selected indicators.