Contraceptive use in low- and middle-income countries: The roles of socio-economic inequalities, cultural and religious beliefs

Contraceptive use remains poor in many low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). While millions of women across LMICs would like to space or limit their number of children, non-use of contraceptives remains high among them despite their sexual exposure and an expressed intention to avoid pregnancy. An estimated 232 million women in LMICs who would like to prevent their pregnancies do not use any modern contraceptives. Recent evidence suggests that addressing the unmet need for family planning in LMICs would prevent more than 54 million unwanted pregnancies which, if not prevented, would result in around 26 million abortions, of which 15 million would be unsafe. Currently, a woman’s risk of dying from pregnancy-related complication in LMICs is high at 1 in 26 compared to 1 in 7300 in high income countries.
While the socioeconomic and development indices of LMICs clearly trail those of high income countries, evidence suggests that an effective family planning program could contribute to socioeconomic development. In addition, it has been established that effective contraceptive use in high-fertility countries could help reduce maternal mortality by up to 32% and child mortality by 10%. However, there are several supply and demand barriers that may explain the low uptake of contraception in LMICs.
This Research Topic accepts contributions on the roles of socioeconomic inequalities in contraceptive use in LMICs. In addition, this collection welcomes papers that explore from policy perspectives, the roles of religious beliefs and culturally-laden social norms on contraceptive use among different population sub-groups – adolescents and young people, migrants, urban poor, rural dwellers, people living with disabilities and other disadvantaged sub-groups.
We welcome a range of contributions, including Original Research, Study Protocols, Review, Commentaries and Systematic Reviews.