Family planning metrics derived from nationally-representative household surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) currently categorise women into those desiring to space or limit (permanently stop) births, or according to their age in the case of young women. This conceptualisation potentially ignores a large and growing group of young women who desire to delay a first birth. This study uses household survey data to investigate the characteristics and needs for family planning of women who want to delay their first birth. Data was collected as part of a repeated cross sectional household survey conducted in Tandahimba and Newala, two rural districts in southern Tanzania, between September 2013 and April 2014, and nested within the Expanded Quality Management Using Information Power (EQUIP) study. Socio-demographic characteristics, including parity, contraceptive practices and fertility intentions of 2128 women aged 13–49 were analysed. The association between women’s life stages of reproduction (delayers of first birth, spacers of subsequent pregnancies and limiters of future birth) and selected contraceptive outcomes (current use, unmet need and demand for modern contraceptives) was assessed using the point estimates and 95% confidence intervals for each indicator, adjusted for the survey design.

Adolescents, Contraceptives, Delayers of first birth, Family planning use, Maternal and child health, Unmet need, Tanzania