Maternal health
Why don't young Kenyan women use modern contraception?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Young women in Kenya knew about modern contraceptives, but myths about infertility and side effects spread by friends, family and partners kept many from using them.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Qualitative / archival — In-depth one-to-one interviews with a semi-structured discussion guide, analysed with thematic coding using pre-set and emergent codes.
- N
- N=34 · 34 young women interviewed in Kisumu, Thika and Mombasa; 58.8% of recruits were contraceptive users.
- Population
- Sexually active women aged 15 to 24 from lower socioeconomic groups in urban and peri-urban areas of three Kenyan regions.
- Outcome
- Themes describing perceived barriers to, and beliefs about, modern contraceptive methods.
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Key findings
All the women had heard of modern methods such as pills, injectables, implants, the coil and condoms, but many held mistaken beliefs, most often that contraception causes permanent or temporary infertility, especially injectables. Other fears included birth defects, cancer, 'dirty blood' building up when periods stop, weight change, heavy bleeding and loss of sexual desire. Some women who used condoms did not count themselves as contraceptive users because they saw condoms as protection against disease rather than pregnancy. Information came mainly from peers, relatives and partners rather than health workers, and male partners often linked contraception with promiscuity or opposed it.
Methodology
A family-planning organisation interviewed 34 sexually active women aged 15 to 24 from low-income urban and peri-urban areas in three Kenyan regions with high, average and low contraceptive use. Households were approached using a random-walk method and interviews were held one-to-one in English or Kiswahili, then transcribed, translated and coded for themes about barriers and drivers of contraceptive use.
Limitations
With 34 women from selected districts, the findings describe the range of beliefs but cannot say how common each barrier is or how strongly it predicts use. Only young women were interviewed, so men's views are reported second-hand even though partners were a key influence. The study was run by the organisation planning a communication campaign, and the interview guide was built partly around marketing concepts, which may have shaped the themes. It measures beliefs, not whether correcting myths increases contraceptive uptake.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Knowing a method exists is not the same as trusting or being able to use it.
In a qualitative study of 34 young, low-income Kenyan women, all had heard of modern contraceptives, but many believed they cause infertility or other harms, got their information mainly from peers and partners rather than health workers, and faced partner opposition.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
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