Contraceptive Counseling Quality and Postpartum Contraceptive Method Satisfaction: A Multi-Institutional Cross-Sectional Analysis

OBJECTIVES: High-quality contraceptive counseling has been associated with increased contraceptive method satisfaction. We aimed to assess this relationship in the postpartum period and to investigate practical aspects of counseling underlying this association. STUDY DESIGN: decision aid. Three months postpartum, participants rated their satisfaction with their chosen contraceptive method and their perception of contraceptive counseling encounter quality on Likert scales. Counseling quality domains included provider demonstration of respect, explanation of methods, pressure toward a method, and response to questions, as well as subjective counseling satisfaction. We used logistic regression analyses to assess the relationship between optimal counseling (both overall and in each domain) and optimal contraceptive method satisfaction, adjusting for randomization arm and demographic covariates significant in bivariate analysis. RESULTS: = 0.04). This relationship was sustained across all individual counseling quality domains. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-perceived provider demonstration of respect, discussion of contraceptive pros and cons, avoidance of pressure, and answering questions were associated with postpartum contraceptive method satisfaction.