Barrier of uncertainty: Use of contraception in three regions of Ghana

Use of modern contraception among married women in Ghana decreased from 19% in 2003 to 17% in 2008 according to the DHS. The Ghana Behavior Change Support Project (BCS) uses behavior change communication and community mobilization to promote use of modern contraception. To help inform and later evaluate program activities, a baseline survey was conducted in 2010 to better understand communication, attitudes, social norms, and patterns of contraceptive use in three regions of Ghana. The quantitative baseline survey enrolled 2246 women 15-49 and 1049 men 15-59 from 1945 households in the Western, Central and Greater Accra regions. Among 1159 women married or living with a partner who were not pregnant, 34.8% reported using any method of contraception and 22.9% reported current use of a modern method. Over 80% approved of using family planning and 59.0% of women and 70.6% of men reported they would likely use contraception in the future. For future use, the most preferred methods were reported to be injectables (29.3% women, 28.5% men) and the pill (19.2% women, 13.4% men). However, 23.6% of women and 21.2% of men were unsure of the method they would prefer to use in the future and 82.0% of women unsure of which method they would use were not currently using any method. The uncertainty of which method to use may contribute to persons approving of FP not using contraception. Finding ways to facilitating decision-making and selection of a method may be an important factor in promoting use of contraception.