How Does Participation in Groups Affect Contraceptive Intentions and Use in Rural Malawi? Results from a District-Level Study in Malawi

Valerie Paz Soldan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This study examines whether participation in groups in rural Malawi is associated with contraceptive intentions and practices. Women in groups were more likely to intend to use contraceptives in the next six months compared to those not in groups, whereas the opposite is the case for men. Groups provided a forum for discussions on health topics, but these discussions usually occurred informally and were triggered by gossiping about someone in their community. The group’s characteristics, such as gender composition (for women and men) or age range (for men), affect the type of discussions that take place, as well as the individuals’ contraceptive ideas and practices. Discussions about method types and side effects were more common among women in groups than men in groups, who instead reportedly “knew” about other group members’ contraceptive use based on their perceptions of their peers’ family size or the spacing of their children.