Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Advance Access
    • Archive
    • Supplements
      • The Challenge Initiative Platform
    • Topic Collections
  • For Authors
    • Instructions for Authors
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Publish a Supplement
    • Promote Your Article
    • Resources for Writing Journal Articles
  • About
    • About GHSP
    • Editorial Team
    • Advisory Board
    • FAQs
    • Instructions for Reviewers
  • Webinars
    • Local Voices Webinar
    • Connecting Creators and Users of Knowledge
    • Publishing About Programs in GHSP
  • Other Useful Sites
    • GH eLearning
    • GHJournal Search

User menu

  • My Alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Global Health: Science and Practice
  • Other Useful Sites
    • GH eLearning
    • GHJournal Search
  • My Alerts

Global Health: Science and Practice

Dedicated to what works in global health programs

Advanced Search

  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Advance Access
    • Archive
    • Supplements
    • Topic Collections
  • For Authors
    • Instructions for Authors
    • Submit Manuscript
    • Publish a Supplement
    • Promote Your Article
    • Resources for Writing Journal Articles
  • About
    • About GHSP
    • Editorial Team
    • Advisory Board
    • FAQs
    • Instructions for Reviewers
  • Webinars
    • Local Voices Webinar
    • Connecting Creators and Users of Knowledge
    • Publishing About Programs in GHSP
  • Alerts
  • Visit GHSP on Facebook
  • Follow GHSP on Twitter
  • RSS
  • Find GHSP on LinkedIn
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Open Access

Women’s Experiences With Family Planning Under COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional, Interactive Voice Response Survey in Malawi, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda

Aurélie Brunie, Gwyneth Austin, Jamie Arkin, Samantha Archie, Dinah Amongin, Rawlance Ndejjo, Saujanya Acharya, Basant Thapa, Sarah Brittingham, Grace McLain, Philip Mkandawire, Maimouna Hallidou Doudou and Ndola Prata
Global Health: Science and Practice August 2022, 10(4):e2200063; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00063
Aurélie Brunie
aFHI 360, Washington DC, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: ABrunie@fhi360.org
Gwyneth Austin
bFHI 360, Durham, NC, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jamie Arkin
cViamo, Nairobi, Kenya; Now with AInfluence Inc, Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Samantha Archie
bFHI 360, Durham, NC, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Dinah Amongin
dMakerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rawlance Ndejjo
dMakerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Saujanya Acharya
eViamo, Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Basant Thapa
fFHI 360, Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sarah Brittingham
bFHI 360, Durham, NC, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Grace McLain
bFHI 360, Durham, NC, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Philip Mkandawire
gPSI, Lilongwe, Malawi.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Maimouna Hallidou Doudou
hEvidence for Sustainable Human Development Systems in Africa, and Université Africaine Privée pour le Développement, Niamey, Niger.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ndola Prata
iEvidence for Sustainable Human Development Systems in Africa, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Supplements
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments
  • PDF
Loading

Key Findings

  • Between 27% and 44% of pregnant women surveyed in each country indicated that the pandemic affected their ability to delay or avoid pregnancy.

  • Fewer surveyed women in potential need of contraception reported current use of modern contraception compared to before the pandemic in all countries except Niger.

  • Supply-side constraints, including service closures and product shortages, were among the most common barriers to contraceptive access and use reported by women. Fear of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and lack of money also constrained access and use.

  • Results linked the unavailability of one’s preferred method to nonuse and unintended pregnancies, indicating that elasticity of demand is limited.

Key Implications

  • Experiences with family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to learn lessons to improve preparedness for future crises.

  • Policy makers should incorporate multimonth supply of contraceptives to clients in guidance documents.

  • Program managers should consider strategies to ensure continued availability of the full method mix during crises, particularly since disruptions may go unnoticed.

  • Program managers should strengthen the provision of services through alternative service delivery channels to mitigate service disruptions.

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

We conducted an assessment in Malawi, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda to document access-related reasons for not using contraceptive methods during the COVID-19 pandemic that led to unintended pregnancies, describe use of modern contraception among women in potential need of contraception compared to before the pandemic, examine method choice, and describe barriers to contraceptive access and use.

Methods:

Between December 2020 and May 2021, we conducted an opt-in phone survey with 21,692 women, followed by an outbound survey with 5,124 women who used modern nonpermanent contraceptive methods or who did not want to get pregnant within 2 years but were not using a modern contraceptive method. The surveys examined current behaviors and documented behaviors before the pandemic retrospectively. We used multivariable logistic regression models to examine factors associated with contraceptive use dynamics during COVID-19.

Results:

Pregnant women surveyed reported that the pandemic had affected their ability to delay or avoid getting pregnant, ranging from 27% in Nepal to 44% in Uganda. The percentage of respondents to the outbound survey using modern contraception decreased during the pandemic in all countries except Niger. Fear of COVID-19 infection was associated with discontinuing modern contraception in Malawi and with not adopting a modern method among nonusers in Niger. Over 79% of surveyed users were using their preferred method. Among nonusers who tried obtaining a method, reasons for nonuse included unavailability of the preferred method or of providers and lack of money; nonusers who wanted a method but did not try to obtain one cited fear of COVID-19 infection.

Conclusion:

We found evidence of surveyed women attributing unintended pregnancies to the pandemic and examples of constraints to contraceptive access and use on the supply and demand side. The effects of the pandemic must be interpreted within the local contraceptive, health system, and epidemiological context.

  • Received: February 16, 2022.
  • Accepted: July 12, 2022.
  • Published: August 30, 2022.
  • © Brunie et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly cited. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. When linking to this article, please use the following permanent link: https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00063

View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Global Health: Science and Practice: 10 (4)
Global Health: Science and Practice
Vol. 10, No. 4
August 30, 2022
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by Author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about Global Health: Science and Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Women’s Experiences With Family Planning Under COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional, Interactive Voice Response Survey in Malawi, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Global Health: Science and Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the Global Health: Science and Practice web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Women’s Experiences With Family Planning Under COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional, Interactive Voice Response Survey in Malawi, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda
Aurélie Brunie, Gwyneth Austin, Jamie Arkin, Samantha Archie, Dinah Amongin, Rawlance Ndejjo, Saujanya Acharya, Basant Thapa, Sarah Brittingham, Grace McLain, Philip Mkandawire, Maimouna Hallidou Doudou, Ndola Prata
Global Health: Science and Practice Aug 2022, 10 (4) e2200063; DOI: 10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00063

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Women’s Experiences With Family Planning Under COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional, Interactive Voice Response Survey in Malawi, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda
Aurélie Brunie, Gwyneth Austin, Jamie Arkin, Samantha Archie, Dinah Amongin, Rawlance Ndejjo, Saujanya Acharya, Basant Thapa, Sarah Brittingham, Grace McLain, Philip Mkandawire, Maimouna Hallidou Doudou, Ndola Prata
Global Health: Science and Practice Aug 2022, 10 (4) e2200063; DOI: 10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00063
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Jump to section

  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • INTRODUCTION
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • Funding
    • Author contributions
    • Competing interests
    • Notes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Tables
  • Supplements
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Timely Access to Essential Surgery, Surgical Workforce, and Surgical Volume: Global Surgery Indicators in Mexico
  • Applying the COM-B Model to Understand the Drivers of Mistreatment During Childbirth: A Qualitative Enquiry Among Maternity Care Staff
  • Perspectives of Muslim Religious Leaders to Shape an Educational Intervention About Family Planning in Rural Tanzania: A Qualitative Study
Show more ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Health Topics
    • Family Planning and Reproductive Health
    • Infectious Diseases
    • COVID
US AIDJohns Hopkins Center for Communication ProgramsUniversity of Alberta

Follow Us On

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Advance Access Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Topic Collections
  • Most Read Articles
  • Supplements

More Information

  • Submit a Paper
  • Instructions for Authors
  • Instructions for Reviewers
  • GH Journals Database

About

  • About GHSP
  • Advisory Board
  • FAQs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2023 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ISSN: 2169-575X

Powered by HighWire