Culture and Birth-Control Practices Among Couples in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja Nigeria: Implications for Counselling and Family Wellbeing

Abstract

This study was designed to understand the influence of culture on birth-control practices and acceptability to selected respondents for their family wellbeing. It was hypothesized that culture does not play significant role in the acceptability and practices of family planning. The descriptive survey design was used as well as random sampling of 384 couples as respondents. A modified version of the Family Planning Practices Questionnaire (FPPQ) by Agbakuribe (2011) was administered to the respondents. The findings showed that there was no significant difference in the family planning practices and acceptability among couples in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory on the basis of their culture. It can therefore be concluded that culture is waning in its influence over family planning methods and practices. Sociological changes such as migration from rural to urban centres, influence of technological advancements among other factors may have played a significant role in this regard. It is therefore recommended that intensified effort should be made by policy makers to create more awareness on family planning by involving counselling psychologists to provide appropriate counselling to married men and women in order to improve their birth-control practices for their family wellbeing.