MIDWIVES IMPROVING THE EQUITY AND QUALITY OF CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN ETHIOPIA, MIDWIVES PERSPECTIVES

Aster Teshome Woldkiros (PhD) ¹_, Unisa and Bethabile Lovely Dolamo (Prof) ²

_1. Centre for Adolescent Girls Health. Love and Care for Adolescent Girls

2. UNISA

Corresponding Author

Aster Teshome Woldkiros  (Ph.D.)

Telephone: +251 944181081

Email: aster1621@gmail.com

: asterteshome@adolescentgirlseth.org

Website: https://www.adolescentgirlseth.org/

PO. Box: 1546, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Date 2022

Background: Unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and HIV/STI continue to be the leading causes of death among adolescent girls, and ASRH services are underutilized. Adolescent girls prefer contraception services provided by female competent health care providers outside of working hours. Midwives, on the other hand, are on the front lines, providing services to pregnant women, childbirth, and PNC and on staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, their potential contribution to contraceptive method counseling and services for adolescent girls has not been realized.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess midwives' practices on contraceptive method counseling and services for adolescent girls.

Methods: A facility-based quantitative cross-sectional study design was used on 558 midwives working in government health facilities in Addis Ababa. The data was analyzed using the STATA 14 software. The outcome was presented in percentages and proportions. The University of South Africa and the Addis Ababa Health Bureau provided ethical approval and a letter of clearance.

Result: The majority of midwives are female, young, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in each health facilities, majorly their activity is directed to maternal care.

37.7% felt confident in providing contraceptive methods counselling and services, less than one third had get in-service training; moreover they do not have guidelines of FP at their disposal. Working in health centers, level of confidence in providing contraceptive services, availability of family planning guidelines, availability of contraceptive methods, and received family planning training make midwives more likely to provide contraception services for adolescent girls.

Conclusion Recommendation: Due to their socio-demographic profile and distribution, midwives at health facilities on weekends and at night provide opportunities to address integrated contraceptive service needs for adolescent girls. Encourage and cultivate an environment in which midwives can fully exercise their scope of practice within their competency. Availability of family planning guidelines and on-the-job training for midwives has the potential to improve girls' and women's access to and availability of contraceptive services.

Key words: adolescent girls, contraceptive services, equity, and midwives