Religious affiliation may influence the type of contraception used by women in the postpartum period

1. In this systematic review, the main factors influencing contraceptive choice included parity, education, and personal and family beliefs about contraception.

2. Additionally, contraceptive method choice was influenced by sociocultural factors, such as religion.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Contraception remains an important topic for women who wish to remain sexually active in the postpartum period. Research has demonstrated that many healthcare professionals do not consider the personal wishes of patients during the selection of a contraceptive and focus primarily on the medical indications and contraindications. As a result, the objective of the present qualitative systematic review was to identify the factors that may influence the choice of contraception during the postpartum period.

Of 4529 identified records, 34 studies were included from various databases from 2000-2021. Studies were included if they studied the contraceptive preferences of women of childbearing age, regardless of culture, ethnicity, or marital status. Studies were excluded if women were not in the postpartum period. The review was performed following PRISMA guidelines. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane’s randomized controlled trial tool. Statistical analysis was performed using a thematic analysis. The primary outcome was factors influencing the type of postpartum contraception.

The results demonstrated the main factors that tended to influence contraceptive choice were parity, level of education, and both personal and familial beliefs about contraception. Religious affiliation was one of the sociocultural factors that was found to influence contraceptive choice. For instance, Muslim women tended to favor intrauterine devices, whereas Christian women were more likely to choose implantable devices. Despite these results, the study was limited by the lack of focus on methods of sterilization, which may have influenced contraceptive choice. Nonetheless, the findings of the present study indicated that physicians should inquire about personal preferences when choosing a method of contraception during the postpartum period.

Click to read the study in Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health

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