assessment of contraceptive needs and practices of women during the extended postpartum period in kiramu woreda, western ethiopia

the extended postpartum period is the time which is usually given less emphasis regarding family planning by policy makers, service providers and users. however, it is a time with a rising risk of unwanted conception and an often-frustrated desire for contraceptive protection. understanding the contraceptive behaviors, needs and preferences of women in this period is important the main objective of this study was to assess the contraceptive needs and practices of women during the extended postpartum period. a community based cross sectional study was conducted in kiramu woreda. four kebeles were purposively selected in the woreda. a total of 120 women who were in the first year after delivery were interviewed by trained data collectors using a structured and pre tested questionnaire. data were entered, cheeked and analyzed using microsoft excel. the mean age of the study subjects was 30.25 with minimum age of 23 and a maximum of 37 and median age of 30 years. the prevalence of modern contraceptive family planning. use was found to be 34(28.3%) among women in the extended postpartum period. two third of women in the extended post partum period were not currently practicing any modern contraceptive method at the time of interview in spite of the doing sex. the reasons for non use were: fear of side effects in 68(56.7 %%) of the study subjects, 14(11.7 %%) due to lack of awareness of contraceptives, 4(3.3%) of them was due to fear of their husbands. in addition to this 77(64.2%) of the women's started sex early before six weeks. this makes early pregnant before they saw any menstruation. however, only 34(28.3%) of women's started to prevent pregnancy during the intended postpartum period in the district. knowledge and practice of modern family planning method in the district was very low. therefore, continual health education contraceptive method mix during the extended post partum period should be revised by family planning program managers and providers is recommended for the implementation of the program.