Current Practice and Determinants of Family Planning Methods among Married Women in the Rural Setting of Edo-North, South-South Nigeria.

One of the great public health achievements of the twentieth century is modern family planning practice. The ability of individuals to determine the timing and spacing of children and family size has resulted in significant improvements in health and in the social and economic well-being of people. But, the prevalence of family planning practices in Nigeria, particularly in the rural setting, is low. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the pattern and determinants of current use of modern methods of family planning among married women in Edo-North and South-South Nigeria. A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted. Three hundred and seven married women were successfully interviewed using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique was employed. The study adopted descriptive, chi-square, and multivariate logistic regression models, and significant associations were found at a p-value less than 0.05. The result showed the prevalence of current use of modern methods of family planning was 68%. Oral contraceptive pills (40%), injectable methods (21%), and condoms (20%) were the major methods being used by the study participants. Distance from family planning services (42%), and ignorance (25%), were the reasons for not using the modern method. The study identified a strong association between age (0.026) and education (0.034) of women and the current use of modern methods. There is also an association between the number of children (0.036) and the current use of the modern method at both the bivariate and multivariate levels. As age, education, and the number of children increase, the likelihood of using modern methods increases by 67%, 39%, and 47%, respectively. In conclusion, the pattern of family planning practice in the rural setting was such that there was evidence of a substantial proportion of current use of both modern and traditional methods. The non-usership of the modern method is attributed to the distance of the family planning service from home, ignorance, and fear of side effects. The low use of IUD, female sterilization, and emergency contraceptives is due to a lack of awareness among rural women. A house-to-house enlightenment campaign on modern methods by the government and other service providers should be instituted, and continuous enlightenment and education on the benefits of modern methods should be improved upon.