Messages around contraceptive use and implications in rural Malawi

Bibliographic Data

ID15099211
AuthorsM Bornstein (0000-0002-5200-8181, Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health and the California Center for Population Research, University of California, Los Angeles, USA), Sarah Huber‐krum (0000-0003-0938-252X, The Ohio State University, corresponding author), Sarah Huber-Krum (The Ohio State University), Marissa Kaloga (0000-0001-5897-6952, University of Otago), Alison Holt Norris (0000-0002-1864-9583, The Ohio State University), Alison Norris (The Ohio State University)
Year2021
Volume23
Issue8
Pages1126-1141
Publication date2021-08-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2020.1764625
PMID32619393
OpenAlexW3038680003
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited21

The unmet need for contraception in Malawi remains high, despite progress increasing knowledge and access over the past two decades. Understanding the reasons for this unmet need is critical to programme planning and service delivery. In this study, we conducted 30 in-depth interviews and 13 focus group discussions with women and men in rural Malawi to understand social, cultural and relational barriers and facilitators to contraceptive use. We found that contraceptive decisions were influenced by complex, often conflicting messages with varying implications based on individual and contextual factors. Common factors that influence contraceptive use, such as spousal support, side effects and social norms that dictated acceptable users of contraception could act as both barriers and facilitators to use depending on context. While strides have been made in increasing access to contraception, findings indicate a need for public health programmes to take a nuanced approach to increasing contraceptive use that does not presume particular factors will be a barrier or facilitator across groups. Instead, programmes should seek to understand how social, cultural and relational factors influencing contraceptive use differ across groups

Business · Context (archaeology · Environmental health · Facilitator · Family planning · Focus group · Geography · Political science · Population · Public relations · Research methodology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Social Psychology · Marketing