Contraception

Women’s Empowerment and Fertility: A Review of the Literature

Ndola Prata
Ushma D. Upadhyay
Jessica D. Gipson
Mellissa Withers
Shayna Lewis
Erica J. Ciaraldi
Ashley Fraser
Megan J. Huchko
2015

Women’s empowerment has become a focal point for development efforts worldwide and there is a need for an updated, critical assessment of the existing evidence on women’s empowerment and fertility. We conducted a literature review on studies examining the relationships between women’s empowerment and several fertility-related topics. Among the 60 studies identified for this review, the majority were conducted in South Asia (n = 35) and used household decision-making as a measure of empowerment (n = 37). Overall, the vast majority of studies found some positive associations between women’s...

Women’s Limited Choice and Availability of Modern Contraception at Retail Outlets and Public-Sector Facilities in Luanda, Angola, 2012–2015

Ndola Prata
Benjamin Nieto-Andrade
Eva Fidel
Rebecca Simmons
Dana Sievers
Anya Fedorova
Suzanne Bell
Karen Weidert
2017

In Angola, many women want to use family planning but lack access to affordable and preferred methods. This article assesses the link between women’s choice and availability of contraceptive methods in Luanda, Angola, drawing on data from 3 surveys: a 2012 survey among women ages 15–49 and 2 retail surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015 among outlets and facilities offering contraceptive methods. Descriptive statistics for women’s contraceptive knowledge, use, and preferred methods were stratified by age group. We report the percentage of establishments offering different methods and...

Community Health Workers as Social Marketers of Injectable Contraceptives: A Case Study from Ethiopia

Karen Weidert
Amanuel Gessessew
Suzanne Bell
Hagos Godefay
Ndola Prata
2017

Ethiopia has made notable progress in increasing awareness and knowledge of family planning and is considered a success story among funders and program planners. Yet unmet need among rural women (28.6%) is almost double that of urban women (15.5%), with a wide gap in total fertility rate depending on urban (2.6) or rural (5.5) residence. This study investigates the impact of a service delivery model that combines community-based distribution (CBD) of contraception with social marketing in Tigray, Ethiopia, to create a more sustainable approach to CBD. Between September 2011 and...

Partner Support for Family Planning and Modern Contraceptive Use in Luanda, Angola

Ndola Prata
Suzanne Bell
Ashley Fraser
Adelaide Carvalho
Isilda Neves
d Benjamin Nieto-Andrade
2017

Husband‘s/partner‘s support for family planning may influence a women‘s modern contraceptive use. Socio-demographic factors, couple communication about family planning, and fertility preferences are known to play a role in contraceptive use. We conducted logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between perceived husband‘s/partner‘s approval and husband‘s/partner‘s encouragement of modern contraceptive use, adjusting for socio-demographic factors and recent couple communication about family planning. We also examined mediating roles potentially played by perceived...

Putting Consumers at the Center in a Context of Limited Choice and Availability of Modern Contraception in Luanda, Angola. Authors' Response to "Assessing Angola's Contraceptive Market Landscape"

Benjamin Nieto-Andrade
Eva Fidel
Rebecca Simmons
Dana Sievers
Anya Fedorova
Suzanne Bell
Karen Weidert
Ndola Prata
2017

We welcome the opportunity to respond to Harrison’s Letter to the Editor regarding our GHSP article “Women's Limited Choice and Availability of Modern Contraception at Retail Outlets and PublicSector Facilities in Luanda, Angola, 2012–2015.” There is little recent market data available for Angola, and this article was an effort to share what we had learned about product availability in retail outlets and public-sector facilities in Luanda. We welcome debate and hope that the gaps identified in the market will inspire others to act. Harrison makes 3 main points in her Letter to the Editor,...

Abortion history and its association with current use of modern contraceptive methods in Luanda, Angola

Ndola Prata
Natalie Morris
2018
Background

Women in sub-Saharan Africa often use abortion as a method of limiting their fertility and spacing births. However, it is not well understood whether having an abortion influences contraceptive behavior. The goal of this study was to examine associations between abortion history and use of a modern contraceptive method among women in Luanda, Angola.

Materials and methods

We analyzed data on 1,176 women aged 15–49 years from a 2012 cross-sectional study conducted in Luanda, Angola, which aimed to obtain general information on sexual and reproductive health indicators. The...

Do perceived contraception attitudes influence abortion stigma? Evidence from Luanda, Angola

Ndola Prata
Madeline Blodgett
Karen Weidert
Benjamin Nieto-Andrade
2018

Abortion stigma is influenced by a variety of factors. Previous research has documented a range of contributors to stigma, but the influence of perceived social norms about contraception has not been significantly investigated. This study assesses the influence of perceived social norms about contraception on abortion stigma among women in Luanda, Angola. This analysis uses data from the 2012 Angolan Community Family Planning Survey. Researchers employed multi-stage random sampling to collect demographic, social, and reproductive information from a representative sample of...

Are Women In Lomé Getting Their Desired Methods Of Contraception? Understanding Provider Bias From Restrictions To Choice

2019

Background: Despite improvements in contraception availability, women face persistent barriers that compromise reproductive autonomy and informed choice. Provider bias is one way in which access to contraception can be restricted within clinical encounters and has been established as common in sub-Saharan Africa. This analysis assessed the prevalence of provider restrictions and the potential impact on women's method uptake in Lomé, Togo.

Methods: This sub-analysis used survey data from provider and client interviews collected to assess the impacts...

Transportation cost as a barrier to contraceptive use among women initiating treatment for HIV in Tanzania

Lauren A Hunter
Ndola Prata
Brenda Eskenazi
Prosper F Njau
Sandra I McCoy
2022

Transportation cost is a barrier to HIV treatment, yet no studies have examined its association with contraceptive use among women living with HIV. We analyzed cross-sectional data from women attending three public healthcare facilities in Shinyanga, Tanzania where they initiated antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection in the previous 90 days; all facilities offered free contraception. Women self-reported current contraceptive use and the round-trip cost of transportation to the facility. Among 421 women aged 18–49, 86 (20.4%) were using any modern contraceptive method, of which...

Using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to Access Google Data and Gain Insights Into Searches on Birth Control in Louisiana and Mississippi, 2014-2018: Infoveillance Study.

Ndola Prata
Karen Weidert
Anne Zepecki
Elina Yon
Elizabeth Pleasants
Petrice Sams-Abiodun
Sylvia Guendelman
2021

Background: It is now common to search for health information online. A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 77% of online health seekers began their query at a search engine. The widespread use of online health information seeking also applies to women's reproductive health. Despite online interest in birth control, not much is known about related interests and concerns reflected in the search terms in the United States.

Objective: In this study, we identify the top search terms on Google related to birth control in Louisiana and Mississippi...