Traditional and Modern Contraceptive Use in Malawi: A Comparison of Their Demographic and Socio-Economic Determinants among Married Female Users

Pierre Dindi, National Registration Bureau

Background Despite Malawi’s goal of reaching a modern contraceptive prevalence rate of 54.8% by 2030, the use of ineffective traditional methods of contraception still persists. Traditional methods failure account for 42% of unintended pregnancies in the country. We compared the background factors associated with the use of traditional and modern methods of contraception. Methods: Malawi’s 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey containing 9,386 married women aged 15-49 years was analysed. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regressions were fit to determine the association. Results About 2.23% of women used traditional contraception, out of which 93% did not know where to source any method. Traditional methods were highly prevalent among females aged 35-44 years (37.56%), highly educated (8.92%) and Muslims (11.74%). Furthermore, being Muslim (OR: 1.98;CI:1.044-3.757;a=0.008), and having tertiary education (OR:3.53;CI:1.215-10.271;a=0.000) increased the odds of using traditional contraception. Conclusion There is an association between socio-demographic factors and use of traditional methods of contraception.