CONTEXT Family planning is highly beneficial to women’s overall health, morbidity, and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Yet, in much of sub-Saharan Africa, contraceptive prevalence remains low while unmet need for family planning remains high. It has been frequently hypothesized that the poor quality of family planning service provision in many low-income settings acts as a barrier to optimal rates of contraceptive use but this association has not been rigorously tested. METHODS Using data collected from 3,990 women in 2010, this study investigates the association between family planning service quality and current modern contraceptive use in five cities in Kenya. In addition to individual-level data, audits of select facilities and service provider interviews were conducted in 260 facilities. Within 126 higher-volume clinics, exit interviews were conducted with family planning clients. Individual and facility-level data are linked based on the source of the woman’s current method or other health service. Adjusted prevalence ratios are estimated using binomial regression and we account for clustering of observations within facilities using robust standard errors. RESULTS Solicitation of client preferences, assistance with method selection, provision of information by providers on side effects, and provider treatment of clients were all associated with a significantly increased likelihood of current modern contraceptive use and effects were often stronger among younger and less educated women. CONCLUSION Efforts to strengthen contraceptive security and improve the content of contraceptive counseling and treatment of clients by providers have the potential to significantly increase contraceptive use in urban Kenya.

Objective A better understanding of the prevalence of service provider-imposed barriers to family planning can inform programs intended to increase contraceptive use. This study, based on data from urban Kenya, describes the frequency of provider self-reported restrictions related to clients’ age, parity, marital status, and third party consent, and considers the impact of facility type and training on restrictive practices. Study Design Trained data collectors interviewed 676 service providers at 273 health care facilities in five Kenyan cities. Service providers were asked questions about their background and training and were also asked about age, marital, parity, or consent requirements for providing family planning services. Results More than half of providers (58%) reported imposing minimum age restrictions on one or more methods. These restrictions were commonly imposed on clients seeking injectables, a popular method in urban Kenya, with large numbers refusing to offer injectables to women younger than twenty years. Forty-one percent of providers reported they would not offer one or more methods to nulliparous women and more than one in four providers reported they would not offer the injectable to women without at least one child. Providers at private facilities were significantly more likely to impose barriers, across all method types, and those without in-service training on family planning provision had a significantly higher prevalence of imposing parity, marital, and consent barriers across most methods. Conclusion Programs need to address provider-imposed barriers that reduce access to contraceptive methods particularly among young, lower parity, and single women. Promising strategies include targeting private facility providers and increasing the prevalence of in-service training.

Despite widespread endorsement within the field of international family planning regarding the importance of quality of care as a reproductive right, the field has yet to develop validated data collection instruments to accurately assess quality in terms of its public health importance. This study, conducted among 19 higher volume public and private facilities in Kisumu, Kenya, used the simulated client method to test the validity of three standard data collection instruments included in large-scale facility surveys: provider interviews, client interviews, and observation of client-provider interactions. Results found low specificity and positive predictive values in each of the three instruments for a number of quality indicators, suggesting that quality of care may be overestimated by traditional methods. Revised approaches to measuring family planning service quality may be needed to ensure accurate assessment of programs and to better inform quality improvement interventions.

A better understanding of the factors influencing use of family planning has the potential to increase contraceptive prevalence and improve the ability of women and their partners to freely choose the number and spacing of their children. Investigations into factors contributing to unmet need frequently rely on data collected using household surveys or interviews with family planning clients and providers. This research utilizes qualitative information resulting from simulated client visits to investigate programmatic barriers to contraceptive use in a sample of 19 health care facilities in Kisumu East District, a city in Western Kenya. Simulated client reports indicate deficiencies in provider competence as well as tenuous relations between providers and clients. In addition, simulated client data reveal occasional absences of providers during normal facility hours of operation and requests of informal fees for services. Trainings that address specific gaps in provider medical knowledge and counseling skills as well as client-provider relations may reduce programmatic barriers to contraceptive use. In addition, improved supervision and oversight at facilities may increase physical and financial access to services. Future research investigating provider motivations may illuminate root causes of programmatic barriers.

Objective Barriers to removal of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) threaten reproductive self-determination, but their influence on contraceptive behaviors is not well understood. We describe perspectives of women in Western Kenya concerning LARC removal barriers. Study design We used a qualitative descriptive approach with conventional content analysis to analyze transcripts for content and themes from eight focus group discussions ( n = 55 participants) and one client journey mapping workshop ( n = 9 participants) with women ages 18–49 in Western Kenya who were currently using or had formerly used contraceptives. Findings Our primary themes concerned women's experience of LARC removal barriers and the impact on their behaviors and attitudes towards contraception. Women described providers being unwilling to remove LARC, regardless of rationale (including expiration, seeking pregnancy, or experiencing intolerable side effects) or demanding unaffordable fees. Women were reluctant to try LARC for fear of having to use the method for its entire lifespan even if they did not like it. Women saw LARC removal barriers as increasing their risk of unintended pregnancy through non-replacement of expired devices and fostering distrust in the health system. Conclusion Barriers to LARC removal may discourage utilization of LARC and contraceptive services generally, which can undermine women's efforts to achieve reproductive self-determination. Implications Our findings affirm the importance of timely LARC removal to ensure that family planning programs uphold women's reproductive autonomy.