Intrauterine contraceptive device use among service providers and family planning clients attending selected sites in Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

There is a growing need in developing countries for effective contraception and in particular long acting methods because a large number of young people are in their reproductive age. The intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) has been used throughout the world for more than three decades. It has long been recognized as an inexpensive, highly effective, long-acting, reversible method of contraception whose maintenance is low. Despite all these, its uptake is still low especially in sub-Sahara Africa. This has been attributed partly to, Family Planning promotion falling behind in the list of international development priorities where new priorities arose that included: HIV/AIDS, population aging and international migration hence shifting focus away from Family Planning (FP). This was a cross-sectional study that was set out to determine prevalence of IUCD and other family planning methods and look into what factors influence or hinder IUCD use in selected sites in Embu County. Six health facilities were included in the study and a total of 315 interviews conducted out of which 297 were clients and 18 were service providers. The results showed that IUCD use among family planning clients was at 9% and for service providers was at 22% both of which were higher than the reported national level prevalence of 4%. When IUCD prevalence was compared to other FP methods, prevalence of injectables and pills was higher at 43% and 20% respectively. From the results, clients who were above 30 years of age, clients who had previously used a family planning method and those who understood how the IUCD prevents pregnancy were more likely to use the IUCD. The study findings indicated that: there is need to continue with advocacy efforts on IUCD as one of the long acting methods of family planning. The service provider’s knowledge and skills on counseling needs to be strengthened so that they are able to provide comprehensible information not just about the IUCD but on all methods of family planning and also to increase family planning method mix. Further studies need to be done to ascertain whether provision of IEC materials would increase uptake of FP.