Views of Adolescent Girls on the Use of Implanon in a Public Primary Health Care Clinic in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Implanon is one of the contraceptives that protects women from falling pregnant for a period of 3 years. Levonorgestrel implants are perfect for adolescents who wish to have lengthy protection against pregnancy and for those who are not consistent in taking Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCP). Objective: The objective of the study is to investigate the views of adolescent girls on the use of Implanon as a birth control method. Methods: A qualitative explorative and descriptive study was conducted to explore and describe the views of adolescent girls regarding the use of Implanon as a birth control method at a primary health clinic in Limpopo Province. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 adolescent girls who had previously used the Implanon and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. Data were analyzed using the Tesch’s open coding analysis and the following themes emerged: views of adolescent’s girls on the use of Implanon, experiences of adolescent girls while using Implanon, health professionals and the insertion of Implanon and other chronic treatments. Results: The study reveals that the lack of trained health professionals, competency in performing Implanon insertion and poor counseling skills by health professionals prompted fear amongst the adolescent girls, which contributed to the low uptake of adolescent girls of the Implanon contraceptive. Conclusion: There is a need for more training of health professionals on counseling skills, insertion, and removal of Implanon. Furthermore, awareness campaigns or dialogues must be hosted annually to engage the public to talk about Implanon.