RESUMO
Background: Global evidence suggests many postpartum and postabortion women have an unmet need for family planning (FP) after delivery or receiving care following loss of a pregnancy. Post Pregnancy Family Planning Choices, an operations research study, aims to examine the effectiveness of a package of postpregnancy FP interventions, inclusive of postpartum and postabortion FP. The interventions are being implemented in selected public and private facilities in Indonesia and Kenya and focus on quality FP counseling and service provision prior to discharge. This manuscript presents the study protocol, documenting how the study team intends to determine key factors that influence uptake of postpregnancy FP. Methods: This is a multi-country, quasi-experimental three-year operations research study in Brebes and Batang Districts of Indonesia and Meru and Kilifi Counties of Kenya. Quantitative and qualitative data is collected longitudinally through interviews and health facility assessments at multiple time points. Data is gathered from 22 health facilities; 8,796 antenatal, postpartum, and postabortion clients; and key informants at national, subnational, facility, and community levels. Quantitative study data is collected and managed using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture). Once data are thoroughly cleaned and reviewed, regression models and multilevel analyses will explore quantitative data. Qualitative study data is collected using audio recordings and transcribed to Microsoft Word, then analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Qualitative datasets will be analyzed using grounded theory methods. Discussion: The ultimate goals of the study are to generate and disseminate actionable evidence of positive drivers, barriers, and activities that do not yield results with regard to increasing postpregnancy FP programmatic activities, and to institutionalize postpregnancy FP in the public and private sectors in Indonesia and Kenya. We hope these learnings and experience will contribute to global efforts to advance and scale up postpregnancy FP in similar settings beyond these two countries. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03333473.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are safe and highly effective, and they have higher continuation rates than short-acting methods. Because only a small percentage of sexually active women in Kenya use LARCs, the Tupange project implemented a multifaceted approach to increase uptake of LARCs, particularly among the urban poor. The project included on-site mentoring, whole-site orientation, commodity security, quality improvement, and multiple demand-promotion and service-provision strategies, in the context of wide method choice. We report on activities in Nairobi between July 2011 and December 2014, the project implementation period. METHODS: We used a household longitudinal survey of women of reproductive age to measure changes in the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) and other family planning-related variables. At baseline in July 2010, 2,676 women were interviewed; about 50% were successfully tracked and interviewed at endline in December 2014. A baseline service delivery point (SDP) survey of 112 health facilities and 303 service providers was conducted in July 2011, and an endline SDP survey was conducted in December 2014 to measure facility-based interventions. The SDP baseline survey was conducted after the household survey, as facilities were selected based on where clients said they obtained services. RESULTS: The project led to significant increases in use of implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs). Uptake of implants increased by 6.5 percentage points, from 2.4% at baseline to 8.9% by endline, and uptake of IUDs increased by 2.1 percentage points, from 2.2% to 4.3%. By the endline survey, 37.7% of clients using pills and injectables at baseline had switched to LARCs. Contraceptive use among the poorest and poor wealth quintiles increased by 20.5 and 21.5 percentage points, respectively, from baseline to endline. Various myths and misconceptions reported about family planning methods declined significantly between baseline and endline. CONCLUSION: Training, commodity security, multiple service delivery models, and demand promotion were the cornerstones of a successful approach to reach the urban poor in Nairobi with LARCs.
