Fertility desires and demand for modern contraception among African immigrants in the US
Contraception
Awarded 2021
Emerging Scholars in Family Planning
Mobolaji Ibitoye, DrPH, MPH
The Ohio State University
$7,490

Mobolaji Ibitoye is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Ohio State University Institute for Population Research. Her multidisciplinary public health training includes a DrPH in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University, and an MPH with dual concentration in Behavioral Sciences/Health Education and Epidemiology from Saint Louis University. Her past research activities span a range of sexual and reproductive health topics with important implications for family planning. During her doctoral training, most of her research focused on understanding the sexual and reproductive health needs of most-at-risk populations in various settings in sub-Saharan Africa. She brings the knowledge and experiences gained from such activities to her work exploring the family planning needs and contraceptive behaviors of African immigrants in the US. African immigrants are a rapidly growing and diverse segment of the US black population and are likely contributors to some of the observed black-white disparities in unintended pregnancy and contraception use. Her study will explore the complex set of factors that influence African immigrants’ fertility desires and demand for modern contraception through in-depth investigation of perceived pros and cons of avoiding or delaying pregnancy and the interpersonal processes that translate the desire to avoid or delay pregnancy into decisions on modern contraception use. The study will help elucidate the unique contributions (or lack thereof) of African immigrants to observed family planning-related health disparities affecting black populations in the US.