Maternal health care visits as predictors of contraceptive use among childbearing women in a medically underserved state in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Health care visits during pregnancy, childbirth and after childbirth may be crucial in expanding the uptake of contraceptive care in resource-poor settings. However, little is known about how health care visits influence the uptake of modern contraception in Nigeria. The focus of this paper was to examine how health care visits influence the use of contraceptives among parous women in a medically underserved setting. METHODS: The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Data was collected from 411 women who gave birth between 2010 and 2015 selected through a two-stage cluster random sampling technique. Health care visits for antenatal care services, childbirth, postnatal care and modern contraceptive were dichotomised (yes, no). Descriptive analyses were performed, and percentages, frequencies and means were reported. Multiple logistic regressions were computed, and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: Knowledge of all contraceptive methods was lowest among women who reside in rural areas. Health care visits for antenatal care (UOR 4.5; 95% CI 2.0–10.5), childbirth (UOR2.1; 95% CI 1.4–3.2) and postnatal care services (UOR 2.3; 95% CI 1.5–3.5) independently predict ever use of any contraceptive methods. Likewise, health care visits for antenatal care (UOR 5.6; 95% CI 2.1–14.8), childbirth (UOR 2.3; 95% CI 1.5–3.6) and postnatal care services (UOR 2.8; 95% CI 1.8–4.5) were independent predictors of current use of modern contraceptive methods. In the adjusted model, health care visits for antenatal care services (AOR 3.2; 95% CI 1.1–8.8) were significantly associated with the use of modern contraceptive methods. CONCLUSION: Health care visits significantly predict the use of modern contraceptive methods. Expanding access to health care services would potentially increase contraceptive use among childbearing women in the medically underserved settings.