Contraceptive Use and Its Determinants among Women of Reproductive Age: A Comparative Study of Urban and Rural Communities in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Background: Contraception is an aged long practice that involves the use of medication, surgery, specific procedures and behaviors to avoid pregnancy. Globally, contraceptive prevalence rate which is the number one problem of women of reproductive age which take a natural or modern form of contraceptive varies within a country. This study aims to compare contraceptive use and its determinant between rural and urban communities in Bayelsa State. Materials and Methods: A descriptive comparative study design was used to obtain relevant information on this subject. Data was collected through the use of a carefully designed and reviewed questionnaire that is relevant and valid for the research. This was done over a period of six month. Data was analysed using SPSS windows version 22 to conduct univariate and bivariate analysis needed to give descriptive and inferential results on contraceptive use and its determinants in Bayelsa state. Results: Specifically, data showed contraceptive use is higher in rural than urban communities in Bayelsa state. Result revealed that a total of 898 women with mean age of 24.1±9.1years About 80.0% (718) respondent have heard of modern contraceptive methods, 95.3% (856) says Yes to family planning as important and while 4.7(42) % of respondents say No as not important. From the study, commonly used method was withdrawal method (54.3%) 448 and Natural method (16.6%) 149. The result also showed that more than half of respondents have not used modern contraceptives before and this could result to unwanted pregnancy especially among single women who do not use modern contraceptive methods. Gaps in knowledge, and educational status of respondents were shown to affect modern contraceptive use. Conclusion: The result from this study clearly shows that most women do not use modern contraceptive. Therefore, we recommend that intentional measures be carried out by government and policy makers to educate and advocate for family planning. Also engaging community leaders, religious leaders and influencers to help normalize family planning and address cultural or religious barriers. Finally, Government should expand healthcare infrastructure in both urban and rural areas to ensure that they are equipped to offer a full range of family planning services and also mobile clinic and outreach programs can be effective to reach women in remote areas.