Postpartum family planning practice among women in Ghana

Abstract

Postpartum family planning has the potential of contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3, which aims at ensuring quality maternal health, promoting wellbeing for all as well as the consequence of each pregnancy. Using women‟s postpartum family planning framework, the study sought to examine the postpartum family planning uptake. The study used secondary data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), (GSS, 2014). Bivariate and multivariate regression models were applied to examine the relationship between background characteristics and postpartum family planning uptake. The results showed that majority of the women were in their extended postpartum period. The proportion of women who were using postpartum family planning were few. However, Brong-Ahafo region recorded the highest prevalence rate. A higher proportion of married women used modern contraceptive type compared to the traditional or folklore. The injectables were the most used contraceptive method. There is statistical relationship between age, marital status, occupation, region, residence and postpartum family planning uptake but not with religion. It is recommended that the various family planning service providers, Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health should focus education specifically on immediate postpartum contraception since this can help prevent unintended pregnancies within the first six months postpartum and promote initiation of contraception before the return of menses