An assessment of early postpartum contraceptive use among sexually active teenage mothers in Namisindwa District, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

An assessment of early postpartum contraceptive use among sexually active teenage mothers in Namisindwa district, Eastern Uganda: Postpartum teenage mothers’ intentions to use contraceptives after childbirth are clear. However, when these mothers should embrace contraception following delivery is the one-million-dollar question. A population based cross section study was conducted to determine postpartum contraceptive use among sexually active teenage mothers, assess underlying factors as well as explore teenage mothers’ experiences, attitudes and perceptions on early postpartum contraception in Namisindwa district, Eastern Uganda. A spatial 10% (32/321) of all teenage mothers used contraception within the first three months following child delivery. Among only users, 18.8% started using contraceptives in the same period. Factors associated with early postpartum contraceptive use were; age of the baby at onset of menstruation after childbirth (aOR = 0.05, 95%CI 0.01-0.42 and previous use of contraceptives (aOR = 0.23, 95%CI 0.07-0.77). In addition to prevalent myths and misconceptions surrounding postpartum contraception, teenage mothers experienced different side effects owing to use of modern contraceptives. There was significantly low contraceptive use among teenage mothers in the early postpartum period and associated factors were revealed. Influence from social networks had both a negative and positive effect on postpartum contraceptive use. Intensified targeted awareness on the benefits of early postpartum contraception could minimize unwanted successive pregnancies among teenage mothers.