Family Planning Service Uptake in Hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria

Family planning refers to a couple's ability to have the number of children they want by spacing out their children appropriately or a person's ability to avoid unintended pregnancies by using various contraceptive methods and infertility treatment. All hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria, that provide primary care and offer family planning services were included in the study.

To describe the pattern of family planning service uptake in the hospitals in Rivers State.

An 8-year retrospective review of data collection from the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS 2) platform in the Health Management Information System in Rivers State was conducted from 2014 - 2021. Data from 387 health facilities was obtained from the DHIS 2 platform and reviewed. The inclusion criteria were all the family planning data in the platform from the various health facilities in the LGAs in the State, during the time of review while the exclusion criteria was the health facilities that didn't provide any family planning data. Data was represented as frequencies, percentages, and charts.

During the period under review, the Family Planning clinics counselled a total of 931,774 individuals, of whom 421,785 (45.3%) accepted family planning services. Condoms (65.3%) were the most widely utilized contraceptive, whereas bilateral tubal ligation (0.1%) was the least utilized. Methods like injectables, implants, oral contraceptive pills, and intrauterine contraceptive devices accounted for 16.1%, 9.4%, 7.8%, and 1.3%, respectively. A significant increase was observed in the trend of the use of condoms, injectables, and oral contraceptive pills between 2014- 2021.

There was an increasing trend in the utilization of family planning services among women of childbearing age in the State during this eight-year period. Condom being the most utilized indicated that it was the most accepted and approved by clients in family planning clinics in Rivers State. The knowledge of contraceptive utilization trends can be used to monitor and appraise the acceptance and approval of each method and family planning program over a period.