Correlates of visit regularity among family planning clients in urban Yemen

Contraceptive discontinuation has been an important issue in low contraceptive prevalence countries like Yemen. Religious and cultural factors might play a large role in barriers against contraceptive acceptance. This study revealed the characteristics of women who accepted contraception and the factors related to the regularity of visits to a clinic in Yemen. Women perceived that accepting contraception was against neither Islam nor their husband's attitudes. They rather paid attention to mother and child health. Regularity of visits was not related to socioeconomic or demographic factors, but was related to satisfaction with family planning services. This implies that different approaches are needed to promote 'continuation' and 'regular visits'. A population policy which promotes birth spacing for maternal health in accordance with cultural contexts should be an effective and acceptable strategy in Yemen. Regular visits could be prompted by increasing the quality of services, including communication between clients and providers about side-effects and alternative choices of methods.