Meeting the demand of women affected by ongoing crisis: Increasing contraceptive prevalence in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Context Over 20 years of conflict in the DRC, North and South Kivu have experienced cycles of stability and conflict, resulting in a compromised health system and poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Modern contraceptive use is low (7.5%) and maternal mortality is high (846 deaths per 100,000 live births). Program partners have supported the Ministry of Health (MOH) in North and South Kivu to provide good quality contraceptive services in public health facilities since 2011. Methods Cross-sectional population-based surveys were conducted in the program areas using a two-stage cluster sampling design to ensure representation in each of six rural health zones. Using MOH population estimates for villages in the catchment areas of supported health facilities, 25 clusters in each zone were selected using probability proportional to size. Within each cluster, 22 households were systematically selected, and one woman of reproductive age (15–49 years) was randomly selected from all eligible women in each household. Results Modern contraceptive prevalence among women in union ranged from 8.4% to 26.7% in the six health zones; current use of long-acting or permanent method (LAPM) ranged from 2.5% to 19.8%. The majority of women (58.9% to 90.2%) reported receiving their current method for the first time at a health facility supported by the program partners. Over half of women in four health zones reported wanting to continue their method for five years or longer. Conclusion Current modern contraceptive use and LAPM use were high in these six health zones compared to DRC Demographic and Health Survey data nationally and provincially. These results were accomplished across all six health zones despite their varied socio-demographic characteristics and different experiences of conflict and displacement. These findings demonstrate that women in these conflict-affected areas want contraception and will choose to use it when good quality services are available to them

“They Love Their Patients”: Client Perceptions of Quality of Postabortion Care in North and South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Background: Postabortion care (PAC) is a lifesaving intervention that, when accessible and of good quality, can prevent the majority of abortion-related deaths. However, these services are only sporadically available and often of poor quality in humanitarian settings. CARE International, the International Rescue Committee, and Save the Children strengthened the Congolese Ministry of Health to provide PAC, including voluntary contraceptive services, in North and South Kivu, DRC. Objective: We aimed to gain understanding of the demographic and clinical characteristics of PAC clients, the experiences of women who sought PAC at supported health facilities, and the women’s perceptions of the quality of care received. We also explored how client perspectives can inform future PAC programming. Methods: A PAC register review extracted sociodemographic and clinical data on all PAC clients during a 12-month period between 2015 and 2016 at 69 supported facilities in 6 health zones. In-depth interviews were conducted between September 2016 and April 2017 with 50 women who sought PAC in the preceding 3 months at supported health facilities. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and translated into French for analysis. Thematic content analysis was subsequently used as the data analytic approach. Results: In 12 months, 1,769 clients sought PAC at supported facilities; 85.2% were at less than 13 weeks gestation. Over 80% of PAC clients had a uterine evacuation, and of these, 90% were treated with manual vacuum aspiration. The majority (75.2%) of PAC clients chose voluntary postabortion contraception. All but one interview participant reported seeking PAC for a spontaneous abortion, although most also reported their pregnancy was unintended. Clients were mostly made aware that PAC was available by community health workers or other community members. Experiences at the supported facilities were mostly positive, particularly in regards to client-provider interactions. Most women received contraceptive counseling during PAC and selected a modern method of contraception immediately after treatment. However, knowledge about different methods of contraception varied. Nearly all women said that they would advise another woman experiencing abortion complications to seek PAC at a supported health facility. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the successful implementation of good-quality, respectful PAC in North and South Kivu. Overall, they suggest that the organizations’ support of health workers, including competency-based training and supportive supervision, was successful

Contraceptive use among adolescent and young women in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: A cross-sectional population-based survey

Background: Adolescent girls in humanitarian settings are especially vulnerable as their support systems are often disrupted. More than 20 years of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has weakened the health system, resulting in poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes for women. Little evidence on adolescent contraceptive use in humanitarian settings is available. CARE, International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Save the Children, in collaboration with the Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative, Columbia University, have supported the Ministry of Health (MOH) since 2011 to provide good quality contraceptive services in public health facilities in conflict-affected North and South Kivu. In this study, we analyzed contraceptive use among sexually active young women aged 15-–24 in the health zones served by the partners’ programs. Methods and findings: The partners conducted cross-sectional population-based surveys in program areas of North and South Kivu using two-stage cluster sampling in six health zones in July-–August 2016 and 2017. Twenty-five clusters were selected in each health zone, 22 households in each cluster, and one woman of reproductive age (15–-49 years) was randomly selected in each household. This manuscript presents results from a secondary data analysis for 1,022 women aged 15–-24 who reported ever having sex: 326 adolescents (15–-19 years) and 696 young women (20–-24 years olds ), 31.7% (95% confidence interval [(CI]) 29.5–-34.1), of whom were displaced at least once in the previous five years. Contraceptive knowledge was high, with over 90% of both groups able to name at least one modern contraceptive method. Despite this high knowledge, unmet need for contraception was also high: 31.7% (95%CI 27.9–-35.7) among 15–-19- year- olds and 40.1% (95% CI 37.1–-43.1, p = 0.001) among 20–-24- year- olds. Current modern contraceptive use (16.5%, 95% CI, 14.7–-18.4) was similar in both age groups, the majority of whom received their method from a supported health facility. Among current users, more than half of 15–-19- year- olds were using a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC; 51.7%, 95% CI 41.1–-61.9) compared to 36.5% of 20–-24- year- olds (95% CI 29.6–-43.9, p = 0.02). Age, Being unmarried, younger age of sexual debut, having some secondary education, being unmarried, and having begun childbearing were associated with modern contraceptive use. The main limitations of our study are related to insecurity in three health zones that prevented access to some villages, reducing the representativeness of our data, and our defining sexually active women as those who have ever had sex. Conclusions: In this study, to our knowledge one of the first to measure contraceptive prevalence among adolescents in a humanitarian setting, we observed that adolescent and young women will use modern contraception, including long-acting methods. Meaningful engagement of adolescent and young women would likely contribute to even better outcomes. Creating an enabling environment by addressing gender and social norms, however, are is key to reducing stigma and meeting the demand for contraception of young women. As we continue to build such supportive environments, we can see that they will use effective contraception when contraceptive services, including short- and long-acting methods, are available, even in protracted crisis settings

Strengthening Health Systems in Humanitarian Settings: Multi-Stakeholder Insights on Contraception and Postabortion Care Programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

Background: In humanitarian settings, strengthening health systems while responding to the health needs of crisis-affected populations is challenging and marked with evidence gaps. Drawing from a decade of family planning and postabortion care programming in humanitarian settings, this paper aims to identify strategic components that contribute to health system strengthening in such contexts. Materials and Methods: A diverse range of key informants from North Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) and Puntland (Somalia), including female and male community members, adolescents and adults, healthcare providers, government and community leaders, participated in qualitative interviews, which applied the World Health Organization health system building blocks framework. Data were thematically analyzed according to this framework. Results: Findings from the focus group discussions (11 in DRC, 7 in Somalia) and key informant interviews (seven in DRC, four in Somalia) involving in total 54 female and 72 male participants across both countries indicate that health programs in humanitarian settings, such as Save the Children's initiative on family planning and postabortion care, could contribute to strengthening health systems by positively influencing national policies and guidance, strengthening local coordination mechanisms, capacitating the healthcare workforce with competency-based training and supportive supervision (benefiting facilities supported by the project and beyond), developing the capacity of Ministry of Health staff in the effective management of the supply chain, actively and creatively mobilizing the community to raise awareness and create demand, and providing quality and affordable services. Financial sustainability is challenged by the chronically limited healthcare expenditure experienced in both humanitarian contexts. Conclusions: In humanitarian settings, carefully designed healthcare interventions, such as those that address the family planning and postabortion care needs of crisis-affected populations, have the potential not only to increase access to essential services but also contribute to strengthening several components of the health system while increasing the government capacity, ownership, and accountability