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Effect of Village Midwife Program on Contraceptive Prevalence and Method Choice in Indonesia
Author(s) -
Weaver Emily H.,
Frankenberg Elizabeth,
Fried Bruce J.,
Thomas Duncan,
Wheeler Stephanie B.,
Paul John E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
studies in family planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1728-4465
pISSN - 0039-3665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4465.2013.00366.x
Subject(s) - family planning , medicine , odds , developing country , affect (linguistics) , population , program evaluation , indonesian , environmental health , family medicine , demography , economic growth , research methodology , logistic regression , psychology , political science , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , communication , public administration , economics
Indonesia established its Village Midwife Program in 1989 to combat high rates of maternal mortality. The program's goals were to address gaps in access to reproductive health care for rural women, increase access to and use of family planning services, and broaden the mix of available contraceptive methods. In this study, we use longitudinal data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey to examine the program's effect on contraceptive practice. We find that the program did not affect overall contraceptive prevalence but did affect method choice. Over time, for women using contraceptives, midwives were associated with increased odds of injectable contraceptive use and decreased odds of oral contraceptive and implant use. Although the Indonesian government had hoped that the Village Midwife Program would channel women into using longer‐lasting methods, the women's “switching behavior” indicates that the program succeeded in providing additional outlets for and promoting the use of injectable contraceptives.