Awareness and Attitude of Family Planning among Rural Women of Nsukka Local Government Area: Implications for Social Work Intervention

Ngwu Christopher Ndubisi

doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1404

Abstract

Nigeria’s population increase has become a great concern to demographers, economic planners and even the government agents as a result of people’s apathy in family planning. Many of the rural population are not knowledgeable about the benefits of family planning and as such, they feel that the programs are not for them, and therefore, do not participate. Against this backdrop of the above situation, the study examined the awareness and attitude of family planning among rural women of Nsukka Local Government Area. Data were gathered from 240 respondents who were randomly selected from Nsukka rural communities. Results showed that younger women (55.2%) were more knowledgeable about family planning than the older women (44.8%). It was also found that religion played an active role in the adoption of family planning practices in Nsukka area of Enugu State. In view of this, it is strongly recommended that education should be employed to improve people’s knowledge on sexuality and to curtail the ugly trends in family planning practices in Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1404

Highlights

Planning has attracted attentions all over the world due to its relevance in decision making, population growth and development
The findings revealed that respondents with high level of education are more aware of family planning than those with lower level of education
The findings from the present study suggest that religious beliefs and cultural sensitivities are contributory factors to Nigeria’s population increase which have become a great concern to economic planners and demographers

Summary

Introduction

Planning has attracted attentions all over the world due to its relevance in decision making, population growth and development. Samuel (2010) defined family planning as the practice that helps individuals or couples to attain certain objectives such as avoiding unwanted pregnancies, bringing about wanted babies at the right time, regulating, the interval between pregnancies, controlling the time at which birth occurs in relation to the ages of parents and determining the number of children in the family. Planning is a means of reproductive health. It further conceptualizes that family planning is educational, comprehensive medical or social activities which enable individuals to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion