Barriers to Uptake of Postpartum Long Acting Reversible Contraception; A Cross Sectional Study

Objective: To investigate factors limiting postpartum long-acting reversible contraception from being used in our system.   Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nishtar Medical University, Multan, from September 2022 to April 2023, consisted of all women who gave birth at this hospital during the study period. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire that had been pretested. The survey asks questions about sociodemographics, reproductive health, healthcare, knowledge and attitudes about LARC, and family planning use. At discharge, a skilled nurse conducted a face-to-face interview with the patient in a quiet private room to gather the data.  Results: In our study most (56.04%) of the women were between age of 26-35 years and (69.97%) belonged to urban area. Main bulk (47.68%) of the women had parity of 3-4 and majority (44.58%) of the women in sample had 0-2 alive children and (21.05%) women presented with history of previous abortion. Most (74.61%) of the women had spontaneous vaginal delivery. The rate of use of LARCs was 69 (21.36%) in our study sample. The comparison of rate of use of LARC’s was found to be significantly (P-value < 0.05) associated with increasing age, increasing women education, occupation and job status. Family income, number of alive children and duration for plan to have next pregnancy were also significant (P-value < 0.05) contributors for uptake of LARCs. Conclusion: The rate of used of postpartum LARC was low (21.36%) in the studied population. Postpartum women from of higher age, having higher education, with formal employment, having higher level of family income, and with higher duration for plan to have next pregnancy were more likely to use LARC.