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Service Delivery Correlates of Choosing Short-Acting Contraceptives at the Time of Uterine Evacuation in Bangladesh

Erin Pearson, Harvard University Kamal Kanti Biswas, Ipas Bangladesh Rezwana Chowdhury, Ipas Bangladesh Kathryn L. Andersen, Ipas USA Sharmin Sultana, Ipas Bangladesh S.M. Shahidullah, Ipas Bangladesh Caroline Moreau, Johns Hopkins University Michele R. Decker, Johns Hopkins University

First published online:

| DOI: https://doi.org/10.1363/43e3817
Abstract / Summary
CONTEXT

The World Health Organization recommends that contraceptives be offered on the day of a uterine evacuation procedure (i.e., induced abortion or postabortion care for an incomplete abortion). Short-acting methods can be initiated on the day of the uterine evacuation, regardless of procedure type.

METHODS

Survey data from a facility-based sample of 479 Bangladeshi women aged 18–49 who did not intend to become pregnant in the four months following their uterine evacuation were used to examine women's choice of short-acting contraceptive methods (pill, condoms or injectable). Service delivery correlates of contraceptive choice were identified using sequential logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Seventy-three percent of women chose a short-acting contraceptive method on the day of their uterine evacuation. The odds that a woman chose a short-acting method, rather than no method, were lower among those who had had a medication abortion (odds ratio, 0.1) or dilatation and curettage (0.3) than among those who had had a vacuum aspiration. The likelihood that a woman chose a specific type of short-acting method varied according to the type of uterine evacuation she had had, the facility level and the governmental or nongovernmental entity that managed the facility.

CONCLUSIONS

Uterine evacuation service delivery characteristics may act as barriers to women's choosing a contraceptive method following an abortion. Training and monitoring providers may help ensure that all uterine evacuation clients have access to the full range of contraceptive information and services and that their choices, rather than service delivery factors, drive postabortion contraceptive use.

Author's Affiliations

Erin Pearson is research associate, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Kamal Kanti Biswas is senior advisor, and Rezwana Chowdhury is advisor, Research and Evaluation; Sharmin Sultana is senior advisor, Health Systems; and S.M. Shahidullah is country director, Bangladesh—all at Ipas Bangladesh, Dhaka. Kathryn L. Andersen is senior director, Technical Innovation and Excellence, Ipas, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Caroline Moreau and Michele R. Decker are associate professors, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Author contact: [email protected]

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Guttmacher Institute.