Abstract:
Background: The postpartum period is a critical period for addressing widespread unmet
needs in family planning and for reducing the risks of closely spaced pregnancies.
However, many women do not realize that they are at risk for pregnancy during this
period. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess Postpartum Contraceptive
Utilizations and associated factors among women who gave birth in the last 12 month in
Ambo town.
Methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted among a total of 422
women of reproductive age who gave birth in the last twelve months in Ambo town. The
study was conducted from January 15 to February 30, 2023 and the study participants
were selected using simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected by
structured interviewer administered questionnaire and was entered using Epi data version
3.1 and exported to SPSS version 27 for cleaning and analysis. Bivariable and
multivariable logistic regression analyses were applied to estimate the crude odds ratio
and adjusted odds ratios with 95% CI to determine the presence and strength of
association between independent and dependent variables. Lastly, a significant statistical
association was tested using 95% confidence interval (CI) at p value (p < 0.05).
Result: Of the total 422 participants, 60.7% (95% CI, 55.6%-65.9%) mothers were
reported to use modern contraceptives during postpartum period. Injectable contraceptive
was the most frequently used method. Factors contributed with utilization of post-partum
family planning utilization were, higher education level (AOR= 4.03; 95 % CI: 2.34-
6.78) being employed in government (AOR= 3.41; 95 % CI: 1.45-5.56) having infants
ages greater than six month (AOR= 2.89; 95 % CI: 1.45-4.98) urban residences (AOR=
5.9; 95% CI: 3.24-10.87) and Space their birth interval of 24-59(AOR= 2.38; 95 % CI:
1.16-4.89).
Conclusion and recommendation: This study revealed that utilization of postpartum
contraceptive during the postpartum period was low in relation to previous study
conducted in Addis Ababa, Adigrat and Kenya. Providing health education is an
important step to improve post-partum family planning utilization in collaboration with
various family planning stakeholders.
