This study is an attempt to explore and learn about the postpartum contraceptivernbehavior of women and to identify the determinants of postpartum contraceptive usernin Awassa town, the Capital of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Regionrn( SNNPR).rnThe methods used to collect data include a cross-sectional survey, focus grouprndi scussion and informal interview with service providers. In the survey, a completerninterview was administered to a total of 1142 randomly sampled currently man'ied,rnnon- pregnant postpartum women who gave live births within the 24 monthsrnpreceding the Survey. Six focus group di scussion sessions, involving 42 eligiblernwomen, and informal interview with representatives three major service providingrninstitutions in the study area, namely: the Awassa Health Center, FGAE and MariernStopes International Family Health Clinics, were conducted to generate thernqualitative data for the Study. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyticalrntechniques were employed to analyze the data.rnResults of the study show that of all respondents 52.7 percent were cUlTently usingrncontraceptive methods. 73.3 percent of the cUlTent users initiated contraception forrnspacing bilths. Among all non-contracepti ve users 73 percent intended to use modernrncontraceptives in the future. FUlther, of all respondents 27.1 percent wanted no morernchildren and 48.3 percent desired to space their next births by at least two years.rnHowever, 13.6 percent the respondents are exposed to the risk of unwantedrnpregnancy. Obtaining adequate FP-information is a major felt need of the studiedrnwomen.rnThe popular reasons for non- use of contraceptives among women exposed to the riskrnof pregnancy were health concern or fear of side effects of contracepti ves and CUITentrnbreast-feeding status.rnThe multivariate result shows that postpartum contraceptive use is strongly relatedrnwith women's post-pattum amenorrhea status, age, husband's attitude and obtainingrnfamily planning information during child immunization.rnxrnThe study recommends the need to devise adeq uate postpartum strategies torneffectively address postpartum women needs for FP- education, coun se ling and otherrncontracepti ve services. It is also recommended th at lactational amenon'hea methodrn(LAM) be integrated in the package of postpattum reproductive health services.rnFinally, the study suggests the need to encourage men to attend during antenatal andrnpostnatal counseling sessions in order to enhance their perception of benefits of- FPrnand to enable them support fami ly planning needs of their wives .