Quality and Cost Interventions During the Extended Perinatal Period to Increase Family Planning Use in Kinshasa, DRC: Results From an Initial Study

BACKGROUND: Most women worldwide do not desire another pregnancy within a year after giving birth, but uptake of modern contraception during this time period is low. We independently tested 2 approaches to increasing contraceptive uptake and the 2 approaches combined using a quasi-experimental study design in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. METHODS: The primary analytic data came from client exit interviews conducted post-intervention (N=563) from 4 study groups. The first arm (n=150) received free family planning, and the second arm (n=113) a quality inputs intervention involving systematic screening, referral, and immediate provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) after labor and delivery. The third arm (n=150) received a combination of the 2 interventions, and the fourth (n=150) no intervention. Family planning service statistics were also collected throughout the intervention period. RESULTS: Women in the quality arm (odds ratio [OR]=4.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8 to 10.9) and free/quality arm (OR=6.7; 95% CI, 2.8 to 16.1) were more likely to be properly screened for family planning than women in the control group, but paper referral was seldom implemented in any group. Women in the free arm (OR=3.8; 95% CI, 1.6 to 9.0) and in the free/quality arm (OR=11.0; 95% CI, 4.3 to 27.9) were more likely than the control group to report being properly counseled on family planning. Clients were more likely to be modern contraceptive users (excluding condoms) in the free arm (OR=3.2; 95% CI, 1.4 to 7.2) and in the free/quality arm (OR=8.6; 95% CI, 3.9 to 19.0) than in the control group. Clients in all study arms were more likely to use a LARC compared with the control group (Quality arm: OR=2.9; 95% CI, 1.1 to 7.9. Free arm: OR=5.6; 95% CI, 2.3 to 13.7. Free/quality arm: OR=8.4; 95% CI, 3.4 to 20.6). Service statistics from the combined intervention arm showed that a significantly greater proportion of family planning adoption occurred within the immediate postpartum period (0 to 2 days) in the quality arm (P<.001) and free/quality arm (P<.001) than in the control arm. Quality inputs, free contraceptives, and the combined intervention had positive impacts on aspects of screening and contraceptive uptake. The combined intervention performed best by all measures. CONCLUSION: Providing family planning, including LARCs, in the immediate postpartum period, implementing a systematic screening and referral system, and providing free methods may improve family planning access and uptake in the extended perinatal period in this environment.