Abstract
Despite increasing contraceptive use and prevalence, many women who want to avoid or delay pregnancy are not using contraceptives. This results in unintended pregnancies, which increases the risk of unsafe abortions. This study aimed to explore the extent of the unmet need for family planning (FP) among urban and rural married women in Myanmar and their demand for and satisfaction with FP. A cross-sectional survey using adapted Demographic and Health surveys questions was conducted in south and north Yangon from September 2016 to November 2016. A total of 1100 currently married women of 18–49 years participated. The contraceptive prevalence was 67.2% in total, 63% urban, and 70% rural. About 19.4% (95% CI: 16.7%–22.4%) of the studied women had an unmet need for FP, significantly higher in urban than rural women (22.6% versus 16.6%). Rural women also showed significant lesser odds (adjusted OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.461–0.849) of unmet need than the urban counterparts. About 86% of the women had demand for contraception and 77% of them satisfied their demand. The study population revealed a fairly good contraceptive coverage; however, a considerable proportion of women had an unmet need for FP, especially the urban women. The demand for contraception is increasing, and contraceptive services need to expand coverage to marginalized groups in order to reduce the risk of unsafe abortions.
Highlights
Planning (FP) is one of the most cost-effective ways of improving the health of women, children, and families [1]
The contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) and the unmet need for family planning (FP) among urban and rural women were tested by chi-square
After applying the United Nations (UN) definition of unmet need for FP, we found that 213 women, 19.4% of the study population had an unmet need for FP
Summary
Planning (FP) is one of the most cost-effective ways of improving the health of women, children, and families [1]. FP and contraception enable young girls, women, and couples to delay, space, and avoid pregnancies [2]. This prevents high-risk pregnancies, especially in women with high fertility and older age groups [2]. FP helps in attaining the desired number of children and a preferable timing of pregnancies, which in-turn prevents unintended pregnancies, and reduces the risk of unsafe abortions [2]. The concept of unmet need for FP points to the gap between the reproductive intentions and the contraceptive behavior of the women [3]. The United Nations (UN) defines the unmet need for FP as: the proportion of women who are fecund and sexually active and want to stop or delay childbearing
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