Mother to child HIV transmission accounts for over 95 percent of
childhood infections. However, many HIV Positive women still become pregnant. Achieving
the goal “HIV free generation” would only be a dream, unless a strong emphasis
is given to prevention of pregnancy among HIV positive women. Therefore, we
aimed to assess family planning utilization and associated factors among HIV
positive women enrolled at ART program in Bahirdar town health facilities.
Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewing 420 sexually
active HIV positive women using systematic random sampling technique.
Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression methods were used
to analyze utilization of contraceptives and the factors associated with it.
About 80% of the study participants are using at least one type of
contraceptive method at the time of study. Injection (54.7%) and condom (18.6%)
are the most commonly used contraceptive methods. HIV positive women with
Primary [AOR: 3.06, 95% C.I: 1.42, 6.59] and secondary [AOR: 2.35, 95% C.I:
1.08, 5.57] educational were more likely to use contraceptive. Participants who
decide about contraceptive use by themselves were less likely to use
contraceptive than who decides jointly with their partner [AOR: 0.29, 95% C.I:
0.14, 0.63]. Women counseled about FP by ART provider [AOR: 2.63, 95% C.I:
1.46, 4.73] and participants who have no fertility desire [AOR: 3.11, 95% C.I:
1.46, 6.64] were more likely to use contraceptive. Those who have undecided opinion
about the safety of contraceptive methods [AOR: 0.23, 95% C.I: 0.10, 0.53] and women
partners who have no fertility desire are less likely [AOR: 0.39, 95% C.I:
0.17, 0.91] to use contraceptive. The uptake of contraceptive use among HIV
positive women is high. However, the use of most long acting contraceptive
methods is still very low. Moreover, significant proportions of women have encountered
pregnancy after they know their HIV status. The findings of this study
highlight, FP counseling inline with effective discussion about child bearing
and pregnancy issues is important in order to increase the uptake of
contraceptive utilization among HIV positive women.