Time interval to initiation of contraceptive methods following childbirth in a low-resource setting

The objectives of the study were to determine factors affecting the interval between a woman's last childbirth and the initiation of contraception.

This was a retrospective study. Family planning clinic records of the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital Kaduna from January 2000 to March 2014 were retrieved. Information was collected on demographics, reproductive, and contraceptive history. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 15 software, and missing responses were excluded. Chi-square was used as a test of association with significance level established at P = 0.05.

A total of 5992 client's cards were retrieved. All were female and married. Majority were aged 25-34 years (53.1%), had completed secondary education (56%) and were Muslims (52.3%). Only 4979 cards (83.1%) had correct data on intervals and 22.1% of these clients initiated contraception within 6 months of their last childbirth. Education, religion, source of information, number of living children, desire to have more children, previous use of contraception, and type of contraception chosen were significantly associated with intervals for initiating contraception after last childbirth (P < 0.05) while the presence of complications in the last delivery was not (P > 0.05).

Majority of women initiate contraception late after childbirth in this setting. Increased awareness on immediate/early postpartum contraception is required. Further qualitative studies will help to explore findings of this study.