CHILDBEARING PROGRESSION AND CORRELATES OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The rate at which population is growing relative to GDP growth in Nigeria is a source of concern. High Childbearing Progression (CP) and low level of contraceptive use are major challenges in this regard, particularly in the northern region. Therefore, women in this region are characterised by poor child spacing and high fertility, which are inimical to maternal and child health. This study was designed to assess CP and correlates of contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in northern Nigeria. The study utilised data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2008. The NDHS is a national representative survey of 33,385 women age 15-49 years. Data were extracted from the complete dataset with focus on 14,081 women resident in the north (north east, north west, north central), who had ever had sexual intercourse with men. The CP was assessed among women at the end of the reproductive age (45-49 years) and have had at least a child. Variables used in the study included: ever-use and current use (4 weeks preceding the survey) of contraceptive, age, educational level, employment status, place of residence, wealth index and parity. The dataset was weighted and analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and logistic regression. Kaplan Miere survival function was used to assess the CP rate. The level of significance was set at 5.0%. Mean age of respondents was 29.9 ± 9.2 years. Overall, CP rate among never users of contraceptive was higher (-0.081) than that of ever users (-0.093). Prevalence of current and ever use of any contraceptive method were 12.3% and 13.3% and 11.7% and 12.1 % for any modern contraceptive method respectively. Current and ever use of any contraceptive method was significantly lower among women with no formal education (5.6% and 6.0%) compared to those with tertiary education (58.9% and 56.1 %). About 24.8% of women resident in urban areas significantly ever used a contraceptive method as against 10.0% in the rural. The percentage of women who had ever used any contraceptive method increased significantly from 6.3% among the poorest to 39.9% among the richest. Women in the richest wealth index category were more likely to have ever used contraceptive than the poorest (OR=2.52; CI= l.97-3.22). The odds of ever using contraceptive was higher among women with tertiary education than those with no formal education (OR=4.66; CI=3.4-6.4). Also, women in paid employment were more likely to have ever used contraceptives than those who were not (OR=l.44; CI= 1.3-1.7). A similar pattern of odds of ever use of contraceptive was observed for current use with respect to wealth index, level of education and employment status. Use of contraceptives was associated with lower Childbearing progression rate. Wealth index, level of education and employment status were the major correlates of contraceptive use. Campaigns on contraceptive usage in northern Nigeria should be increased and target the poor and less educated women who are not in paid employment.