Gender and Maternal Health: A Study of Family Planning and the Use of Contraceptive Among Rural Women in Iwaro-Oka Akoko, Ondo State

Abstract

The issue of family planning all over the world has attracted attention due to importance in decision making about infant mortality, maternal morbidity and mortality, population growth and development issues. Women are disadvantaged as they have little or nothing to say regarding when to have a child, and how many to have in the process. This is particularly so among rural dwellers in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa due to household gender dynamics. The study adopted a descriptive research survey and 150 rural women were randomly selected from Iwaro-Oka settlement. Data was collected using a self-constructed questionnaire. Data was analysed using frequencies, simple percentage and chi-square analysis. The result shows that majority 94(80.3%) of the respondents within the community have the knowledge of family planning, and they have practiced one or more family planning methods. Also, few 23(19.3%) of the respondents who do not practice family planning believe in the benefit of the method. Test of the hypotheses revealed that there was significant relationship between the educational back ground of the respondents and their attitude towards family planning and contraceptive use. In addition, there was a significant relationship between husband’s involvement in decision making in wife’s family planning life and attitude towards family planning and contraceptive use. Based on the findings, the study recommends that family planning programme should be intensified to improve people’s knowledge of contraception and reduce their fear of modern methods. Moreover, all stakeholders should plan interventions that will further make family planning health services husband-targeted by involving men and ensuring confidentiality, privacy and respect. In addition, such intervention should provide information necessary for informed men consent especially in traditional settings, in order to curtail infant mortality, maternal morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: Family Planning, Contraceptive, Attitude, and Rural Women.