The prevalence of covert use of contraception in Adama town

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of independent decisions of Ethiopian women on the use of contraceptives. Methods: We sampled 578 households in Adama town 100 km south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. Currently married women aged 15–49 years and a subsample of their husbands were the study units. Results: We found that 8.7% of currently married women use contraceptives without the knowledge of their husband. Almost 23% of women practiced with a complete or partial lack of knowledge of their husband. Of all the modern methods, 15.7% of the covert users practice injectables. Conclusion: The findings support the literature that in low contraceptive settings secret use of contraceptive is high. The involvement of men in reproductive health issues should be encouraged. Reproductive health service providers should inflate the choices available to their clients. The lack of women autonomy is the main factor that determines clandestine use of family planning services. Since reproductive health matters are one indicator of poverty, men involvement and women autonomy will bring a new and short direction to achieve the goals of millennium development goals.