Differences in Quality of Care of Family Planning Services Received by Age and Contraceptive Continuation Among Young Mothers in India

Abstract

PurposeYouth face barriers that affect their use of family planning (FP) services, including low quality of care and provider bias. Although young women have the highest unmet need for FP in India, little is known about the effect of age on quality of care received. Additionally, although youth have higher contraceptive discontinuation than older women, the factors associated with continuation, including the effect of quality of care, are not well known. This study aims to assess differences in quality of care received by young mothers aged 15–24 and mothers aged 25–48, and to examine factors associated with modern contraceptive continuation 6 months after initiation among young mothers. MethodsData come from a 12-month longitudinal study of married reversible contraceptive users in India. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine adjusted associations of age and reported receipt of low, medium, or high quality of care. Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with modern contraceptive continuation after 6 months. ResultsResults showed that young mothers were less likely to receive high quality of care than older mothers, and that among young mothers, motivation to prevent pregnancy was significantly associated with continued use after 6 months. DiscussionAs India aims to improve quality of care and increase access to services for youth, special attention should be paid to care received by young mothers, as well as options to support them in continuing to use contraceptive methods as long as they desire to prevent pregnancy.