Utilization Patterns of Long and Short-Acting Modern Contraceptives among Women Seeking Family Planning Services in a Niger Delta Cottage Hospital: A Retrospective Study

Background: The use of modern contraceptive devices is a proven cost-effective method for Family planning (FP) and for preventing pregnancy. This study examines the utilization pattern for Short-acting Reversible contraceptives (SARC) and Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC) among women who sought FP services at the Obio Cottage Hospital, Port Harcourt, South-South, Nigeria Method: This was a cross-sectional review of the records of 2499 clients who accessed family planning services at Obio Cottage Hospital between June 2021 and May 2023. A proforma was developed and used to extract the required information from the family planning records. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS Windows Version 25. Descriptive analysis was done for relevant variables and Chi-Square was used to test for associations. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05 Results: The mean age of FP uptake was 34.21+5.7. Most of the clients were multiparous women who preferred LARC (67.5%). Two fifth of the clients (1013) demanded for the hormonal implants, while 675 (27%) preferred IUCD, 259 (10.4%) Sayana Press, 187(7.5%) male condoms, 164 (6.6%) combine oral contraceptives, 133 (5.3%) and Depo Provera and 64 (2.6%) Noristerat. Only 7 (0.3%) adolescents accessed the FP services while just 48 (1.98%) of the clients had a postpartum family planning service. There was a statistically significant association between the parity of the clients and preference for SARC or LARC (X2 =25.36, p=0.001). Conclusion/Recommendation: The LARCs- hormonal implants and IUCD were the most preferred FP method, and mainly utilized by multiparous women. There were low adolescent and post-partum FP services. There is a need to increase access to these services at this cottage Hospital.