Post Abortion Women’s Perception On Contraceptive Counselling Provided By Service Providers: A Qualitative Study In Kisumu County, Kenya

Background: Contraceptive Counselling is the process in which service providers engage with Patients to help them identify a suitable  contraceptive method and in a follow up interaction until the effectiveness of the process is achieved. Establish good rapport between the service providers and the recipients. Contraceptive uptake among post abortion patients is affected by the perception the women have on contraceptive counselling by the service providers. Contraceptive knowledge is high and its usage is low among post abortion patients. Aim: The main aim of this study was to explore how patients seeking post abortion care perceived contraceptive counselling provided by service providers in Kisumu County, Kenya. Methodology: A sample of 20 post abortion patiens participated in the In-depth interviews where open ended questions with probes were used to collect data. The interviews were conducted in two facilities, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and Kisumu East DistrictHospital (Kisumu County Hospital) (both in Kisumu County, Kenya). The interviews were recorded and verbally transcribed. NVivo version 11 was used to sort out the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The sorted data was coded and structured in nine themes with regard to quality of care in contraceptive services. Choice of contraceptive method, information provided to recepients, interpersonal relationship, continuityand follow up, technical competence, affordability of contraceptive services, partner preference, myths and misconceptions, suggestions and concerns was emphasized. Results: The patients were able to obtain information about the various methods of contraception enabling them to make informed choices as a result of the discussions with the service providers. The good interpersonal relationship of the service providers with the respondents establishedgood rapport and reduced the stigma. Respondents were now able to revisit clinics after abortion without fear and contraceptives provided free of charge after discussions with the respondents who felt comfortable using them. Partners were important in contraceptive decision making, suchthat those who had partners found it easy to decide. Conclusion: The Respondents perceived contraceptive counselling positively indicating the friendliness of the service providers that made them feel confident with the contraceptive counselling and comfortable to discuss abortion with them. Respondents did not like the term abortion because itdemoralized them. Keywords: Contraceptive counselling, Contraceptive experience, Missed  Opportunities, Contraceptive Uptake, Physicians and Midwives, Post  Abortion Car