Fertility Decision Making Among the Ijesa of Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Fertility decision making between the husband and wife is important in determining the fertility level in a given population. In patriarchal society, such as Ijesaland in Nigeria, this becomes very imperative due to interrelationship between husbands and wives. This paper examined who between the husband and wife is taking fertility decisions among the Ijesa of south-western Nigeria. In other words, this paper examined the major fertility decision maker between the husband and wife among the Ijesa sub ethnic group of the Yorubas. It also examined the type of decisions being jointly made between the husband and wife in the study area. A cross-sectional survey design using qualitative and quantitative techniques was employed, involving a random selection of 17 enumeration areas and 1,594 ever- married women of childbearing age. Structured questionnaire, focus group discussion guide and in depth interview guide were used to elicit information from the respondents. The findings show that husbands are more involved in making fertility decisions in the study area. In essence, husbands’ desire in matters relating to number of children and when to have them supersedes that of the wives. The study concluded that since the majority of fertility decisions rest with the husbands in the study area, this could result to high fertility, which may in turn affect the health of the women in the study area negatively.