Information literacy of women on family planning in rural communities of Oyo State Nigeria

Abstract

This study explored the information literacy of women on family planning in rural communities of Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo state, Nigeria. Multistage sampling was adopted. Akinyele local government was divided into 12 wards and from these, six rural communities were purposively selected. Convenience sampling was used to select respondents, who were women within the reproductive age of 18–49 years. Focus group discussion was used to collect data from 78 respondents and interview from five key informants. The data collected in the Yoruba language were transcribed verbatim and translated to English. The collected data were analysed thematically. Findings showed some basic level of knowledge about family planning among the women, although the majority were yet to adopt family planning. Acquisition of family planning information was mainly through the radio and health centres, where available. Reasons for non-adoption included husbands’ disapproval and unavailability of health facilities as well as reported complications arising from use. There were no reported cases of enlightenment programmes by the government except in one of the communities, where such programmes were introduced but stopped. Provision of fully equipped and functioning health centres with well-trained health professionals is recommended to improve information literacy on family planning.