Pregnancy planning and infant care practices in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The objective of this article was to assess the impact of pregnancy planning on four childcare practices in sub-Saharan Africa: early initiation of breastfeeding, use of postnatal care, exclusive breastfeeding and complete immunisation. The latest data available in 2024 from the demographic and health surveys of 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, covering the period 2011-2022, were mobilised, and bivariate and multivariate descriptive methods through binomial logistic regressions were also used for the analysis. The results indicate that health practices that occur immediately after childbirth (initiation of breastfeeding and postnatal care) are strongly impacted by pregnancies planning. In fact, compared to planned births, mistimed and unwanted births are 14.1% and 16.5% less likely to be breastfed within an hour of delivery, respectively. They are also 3.9% and 11.3% less likely to receive postnatal care within two days of delivery compared to planned births, respectively. On the other hand, health practices that occur later (exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, complete vaccination) are little impacted by pregnancy planning. These results highlight a time-dependent effect of pregnancy planning on child health care indicators in sub-Saharan Africa. This can be related to the cultural norms that govern African societies as well as the emotional bonds that develop between parents and their children.