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Health Care Factors Influencing Teen Mothers’ Use Of Contraceptives in Malawi
Abstract
Objective: The study seeks to examine factors associated with teen mothers’ use of modern contraceptives after giving birth.
Methods: The 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey data was used to test the study objective. A sample of 12, 911 teen mothers aged between 10 and 18 years were extracted from 23, 020 women and were asked of contraceptive usage after first birth experiences, in which, a logistic regression model was employed to estimate correlates of contraceptive usage.
Results: The study found that 54.8% of the teen mothers are still at a risk of having a repeat teenage pregnancy due to their non-use of contraceptives. This implies that less than 50% of teen mothers use contraceptives after experiencing teen birth. It is noted that health care factors such as use of antenatal care, awareness of pregnancy complications, attainment of primary education and exposure to media predict teen mothers’ use of modern
contraceptives.
Conclusion: Despite endeavours made by government to improve access to family planning, health care challenges still exist affecting women’s use of contraceptives in Malawi. Ameliorating these health encounters call for widerange approaches aimed at addressing teen birth comprehensively in order to prevent early motherhood and subsequently high fertility.
Funding: None declared
Keywords: teen births, teen mothers, antenatal care, education, Malawi
