Women’s Experiences of Quality of Counseling in Tanzanian PPIUD Intervention

Leigh G. Senderowicz , Harvard University
Erin Pearson, Ipas
Kristy Hackett, Harvard University
Sarah Huber-Krum, Harvard University
Joel Francis, University of the Witwatersrand
Projestine Muganyizi, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
Julia Rohr, Harvard School of Public Health

With the increasing focus on long-acting reversible contraceptives, some family planning (FP) interventions choose to promote a single method as their programmatic focus. We explore women’s experiences with FP counseling in the context of a postpartum IUD (PPIUD) intervention, and the ways that this single-method focus affects access to high-quality FP. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty women receiving antenatal care as part of a PPIUD intervention in five hospitals in Tanzania. We use both open-coding and deductive content analysis to identify key themes. Women reported overall satisfaction with the quality of counseling, citing high levels of trust, and the provision of useful information. When probed, women shared that their counseling sometimes focused narrowly on PPIUD to the detriment or exclusion of other methods. Though single-method interventions can bring attention and resources to FP programs, they may paradoxically serve to constrain access to a wide range of FP methods.

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 Presented in Session 1. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior, & Reproductive Health 1