Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Family Planning Methods among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic at Six Health Facilities in Rwanda

Abstract

The fertility rate in Rwanda decreased from 6.1 in 2005 to 4.6 in 2010 and to 4.2 in 2015. Widespread use of contraceptives has played a main role in this decrease. A cross sectional study was conducted on knowledge, attitude and practices of family planning methods on 426 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in six health facilities in Rwanda. To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning methods and to determine the past and future intent of post-partum contraceptive use and factors associated with discontinuation of family planning methods among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Rwanda. A systematic random sampling method was used to select pregnant women who came for antenatal in each site. Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire and entered into a database. Chi-square tests were used for comparison and correlation between variables. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. 94.1% pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Rwanda are familiar with at least 2-3 family planning methods with low knowledge about LARCs. 62.7% used modern contraceptive methods prior to the current pregnancy. Depoprovera, pills and Jadelle were the most used modern family planning methods. 91.1% of pregnant women intend to use modern contraceptive methods postpartum, mainly Jadelle, Depoprovera, and IUD. Higher number of gravidity and living children and occupation were found to be associated with the past contraceptive methods use and intent of post-partum contraceptive use. Fear of Side effects, desire for additional children and husband or sexual partner decision were found to be associated with the no use of contraceptive. Contraceptive awareness and attitude amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Rwanda was excellent (94.1%) with fair use (62.7%) of available methods. Barriers on no use of contraceptive methods should be addressed individually.