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. 2024 Jan-Dec:20:17455057241310641.
doi: 10.1177/17455057241310641.

Association between women empowerment and contraceptive utilization in Ethiopia

Yonas Abebe  1 , Robera Demissie Berhanu  2 , Lencho Kajela  3 , Yadeta Babu Bayane  4
Affiliations

Association between women empowerment and contraceptive utilization in Ethiopia

Yonas Abebe et al. Womens Health (Lond). 2024 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Women's empowerment is essential for achieving sustainable development goals. It involves enabling women to take control of their lives by giving them the agency, resources, and opportunities they need to make their own choices and reach their full potential. If more women are empowered to use modern contraceptives, greater reductions in maternal mortality will follow. By understanding this association, we can identify key women empowerment dimensions that have an association with family planning utilization and consider ways forward to improve reproductive health outcomes for women.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive utilization among married mothers in Ethiopia.

Design: A facility-based quantitative study was employed.

Methods: A facility-based quantitative cross-sectional study was employed among 305 mothers selected by systematic random sampling at Jimma Town Public Hospital from July 1 to August 31, 2022. The interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were entered into EpiData Manager, version 4.6.0.6, and then exported to SPSS, version 26. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between the dependent and independent variables.

Results: Among a total of 305 study subjects, 301 were used in the analysis. Approximately 65% (95% CI = 59.8, 70.8) of the women utilized modern contraceptive methods. High general self-efficacy (AOR = 4.17; 95% CI = 2.11, 8.23), an internal locus of control (AOR = 3.92; 95% CI = 2.01, 7.65), labor work participation (AOR = 4.53; 95% CI = 1.99, 10.31), and enrollment in elementary education (AOR = 8.30; 95%; CI = 2.96, 23.27) have a statistically significant association with modern contraceptive utilization.

Conclusion: Numerous dimensions of women's empowerment are significantly associated with modern contraceptive utilization. The dimension of women's empowerment needs considerable focus from stakeholders to empower women and enable them to utilize contraceptives and other maternal healthcare services.

Keywords: Ethiopia; contraceptive; empowerment; women.

Plain language summary

Women empowerment and contraceptive utilizationWhy was the study carried out?Women’s empowerment is a core agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5, which is dedicated to achieving equality and empowering all women and girls. It is argued that women’s empowerment is key to women’s utilization of sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Previous studies have attempted to link women’s empowerment with reproductive healthcare utilization, despite numerous limitations such as reliance on demographic and health survey data and the study of only a few dimensions or components of women’s empowerment. This motivated us to investigate the association between women’s empowerment and modern contraceptive utilization among married mothers in Ethiopia.What did the researchers do?The research team reviewed the available literature to identify commonly agreed-upon dimensions of individual women’s empowerment. Then, we recruited married mothers to assess their modern contraceptive use and its association with these different empowerment dimensions.What did the researchers find?This study highlights the association between women’s empowerment and contraceptive utilization among women. A majority of participants utilized modern contraceptives; however, women with greater empowerment in dimensions such as general self-efficacy (an individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to achieve specific performance attainments), internal locus of control (those who believe they have control over their own behavior), labor force participation (those who have jobs outside of the home), and formal education were more likely to utilize contraception than their counterparts.What do the findings meanThis study identified key empowerment dimensions for future interventions to improve contraceptive utilization. Focusing on internal aspects of empowerment, such as self-efficacy and internal locus of control, may increase modern contraceptive use in Ethiopia. Additionally, targeting women with low educational attainment and those not participating in the labor force is crucial to ensure equitable access to contraceptive services.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of modern contraceptive utilization among mothers attending delivery and postpartum services at Jimma Town Public Hospitals, Oromia Region, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022 (n = 301).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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