Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Postpartum Females Regarding the Acceptance of Immediate Postpartum Contraception: A Cross-Sectional Study From North India.

Abstract

The immediate postpartum period is a great time to encourage the acceptance of contraceptive methods; the time is influenced by both emotional and physical factors. At this stage, the administration of intrauterine contraceptives is relatively easier with lesser complications due to the prior obstetric event.A single-center cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-constructed questionnaire-based interview on 331 women in their immediate postpartum period who had delivered a healthy live-born infant.The majority (59.8%) of study participants had unplanned pregnancies. We conducted behavior change communication sessions for postpartum family planning which resulted in 89% of participants accepting the methods with the prime reasons for acceptance being temporary child spacing (41%) and a definitive desire for no more children (34%). The odds were higher in women with more than five pregnancies [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.951, 95% CI = 1.389-2.925] and women whose last pregnancy was planned [AOR = 1.248, 95% CI = 1.002-3.215].The hindrance to adopt and adhere to postpartum contraception stems from a variety of socio-economic factors which are unique to low-income countries. Individually tailored behavior change communication/counseling approaches may help overcome misconceptions and meet the heterogeneous needs for family planning in the immediate postpartum phase.