Postpartum Family Planning Utilization and associated factors among Women who gave birth in the last 12 months in selected Districts of Arsi Zone, Southeast Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study

Background: Inter-pregnancy intervals of at least 24 months are recommended due to the association between shorter intervals and higher rates of infant mortality, pre-term and low birth weight newborns. Increasing use of postpartum contraception can reduce the number of short-interval pregnancies. Despite these facts, there is a very limited data related to postpartum contraception utilization and contributing factors in the study area. Objective: to assess postpartum family planning utilization and associated factors among Women who gave birth in the last 12 months in Zeway Dugda and Dodota Districts. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 15-31, 2020. Data was collected from a random sample of 796 women who gave birth during the last 12 months using structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The collected data was entered using Epi-Info version 7 software and then exported to SPSS version-21 for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used and association between postpartum family planning uptake and independent variables were measured using adjusted odds ratios and its 95% confidence interval and P- values below 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Magnitude of overall postpartum family planning utilization in the study districts was 17.46%. Immediate Postpartum family planning uptake rate was 1.01%. status and receiving family planning counseling during ANC visit were main factor associated to postpartum family planning uptake. Conclusion: Postpartum family planning uptake specially the immediate one al status and family planning counseling during ANC were found to be predictors for postpartum family planning utilization.