Use of Contraceptive among Postpartum Women of a Municipality: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Contraception plays a key role in preventing unwanted births. It also decreases pregnancy and childbirth-related morbidities and mortalities, but many women don't use contraception particularly in the postpartum period. The main objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of contraception use among postpartum women in a municipality.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among married women of reproductive age in Dhulikhel municipality of Kavrepalanchok from January to September 2019. Ethical approval was obtained from Institutional Review Committee and permission was taken from Dhulikhel Municipality before the study. The sample size was 332. A convenience sampling method was used. A semi-structured questionnaire pre-tested in Panauti municipality was used. Data entry and analysis were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated for descriptive analysis.

Out of total 332 women, 146 (40%) (34.73-45.26 at 95% Confidence Interval) used postpartum contraception. Injectable/Depot was used by 61 (42%) women. Total 97 (52%) of the non-users intended to use contraception in the future. The most common reason for contraception use was women not wanting the next child soon 91 (62%) and reason for non-use was feeling contraception as unnecessary 73 (39%).

The use of postpartum contraception was poor, and only half of the non-users intended to use contraception in the future. Thus, contraception use should be encouraged during all possible contact times, and counselling should be made universal to improve postpartum contraception services' uptake.