ISSN: 2474-9230
Authors: Oguejiofor CB*, Okafor OC, Eleje GU, Okafor CG, Nkesi JC, Ezeigwe CO, Odugu BU, Nweze SO, Emeka EA, Ofiaeli CC, Onah NL and Okon VV
Background: Maternal and infant mortality can be reduced with use of contraceptives which protects against unplanned pregnancies, high parity and high fertility and ensuring proper spacing between child births. Nigeria’s fertility rate is high, with 5.7 children per woman while the contraceptive prevalence rate is low, with a rate of 15%. Studying the trend will provide information on the uptake of diverse contraception approaches and provide information for counseling. Objective: To determine the trend and preferred methods of contraceptive usage among patients who attend the family planning clinic at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) Nnewi, Nigeria. Method: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study involving collection of data from the family planning register of women who attended family planning clinic at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Nigeria, from 1st April 2014 to 1st March 2019. The information obtained from the case files were socio-demographic data such as the age and parity including the contraceptive methods, and yearly uptakes. The data obtained were analysed using statistical package SPSS version 26. Result: The total number of deliveries at the study center in the studied period was 3457, while the total number of contraceptive methods used was 578, giving an overall contraceptive prevalence rate of 16.7%. The prevalence rate showed a rise from 15.7% in 2014/2015 to as high as 19.1% in 2018/2019. The age group with most of the women from the study was 30 to 34 (29.2%) years. Majority of the women (251; 43.4%) used sub-dermal implants, 219 (37.9%) women used intrauterine contraceptive device (CUT380A), and this was followed by 96 (16.6%) women that used injectable hormonal contraceptive. We also observed an increase in preference for use of hormonal contraceptive methods (implants) as compared to the non hormonal methods (CUT380A). Conclusion: The trend so far, shows a rise in contraceptive use with the sub-dermal implants in the study center, with a notable improvement in the prevalence of contraceptive use within the last 5 years of the study. There is need for health information on the use of contraceptives to improve the uptake.
Keywords: Contraceptive; Family Planning; Fertility
