A RESEARCH STUDY ON THE ATTITUDE OF SPOUSE TOWARDS THE ACCEPTANCE OF FAMILY PLANNING IN OKE-ARO COMMUNITY, AKURE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ONDO STATE

Family planning allows people to attain their desired number of children and to determine the spacing of their pregnancies. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of infertility. Contraceptive information and services are fundamental to the health and human rights of all individuals. (WHO, 2021). The prevention of unintended pregnancies helps to lower maternal ill-health and the number of pregnancy-related deaths. Delaying pregnancies in young girls who are at increased risk of health problems from early childbearing, and preventing pregnancies among older women who also face increased risks, are important health benefits of family planning. By reducing rates of unintended pregnancies, contraception also reduces the need for unsafe abortion and reduces HIV transmissions from mothers to newborns. This can also benefit the education of girls and create opportunities for women to participate more fully in society, including paid employment. (WHO, 2021).

Family planning is "the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility (Wikipedia, 2021). The number of women desiring to use family planning has increased markedly over the past two decades, from 900 million in 2000 to nearly 1.1 billion in 2020.  Consequently, the number of women using a modern contraceptive method increased from 663 million to 851 million and the contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 47.7 to 49.0 per cent. An additional 70 million women are projected to be added by 2030. The proportion of women of reproductive age who have their need for family planning satisfied by modern contraceptive methods (SDG indicator 3.7.1) has increased gradually in recent decades, rising from 73.6 per cent in 2000 to 76.8 per cent in 2020. Reasons for this slow increase include: limited choice of methods; limited access to services, particularly among young, poorer and unmarried people; fear or experience of side-effects; cultural or religious opposition; poor quality of available services; users’ and providers’ bias against some methods; and gender-based barriers to accessing services.  As these barriers are addressed in some regions there have been increases in demand satisfied with modern methods of contraception (WHO, 2021).

India was the first country in the world to have launched a National Programme for Family Planning in 1952. Over the decades, the programme has undergone transformation in terms of policy and actual programme implementation and currently being repositioned to not only achieve population stabilization goals but also promote reproductive health and reduce maternal, infant & child mortality and morbidity. The objectives, strategies and activities of the Family Planning division are designed and operated towards achieving the family welfare goals and objectives stated in various policy documents (NPP: National Population Policy 2000, NHP: National Health Policy 2017, and NHM: National Rural Health Mission) and to honor the commitments of the Government of India (including ICPD: International Conference on Population and Development, MDG: Millennium Development Goals, SDG: Sustainable Development Goals, and others). (National Health Mission (NHM), 2021). 

Access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right. Family planning is central to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and it is a key factor in reducing poverty. Yet in developing regions, an estimated 218 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from lack of access to information or services to lack of support from their partners or communities. This threatens their ability to build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) works to support family planning by: ensuring a steady, reliable supply of quality contraceptives; strengthening national health systems; advocating for policies supportive of family planning; and gathering data to support this work. UNFPA also provides global leadership in increasing access to family planning, by convening partners including governments, to develop evidence and policies, and by offering programmatic, technical and financial assistance to developing countries (United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA), 2021). Almost 923 million women worldwide wish to avoid or delay pregnancy, and about three-quarters of these women are currently using a modern contraceptive method. Yet, more than 218 million women still have an unmet need for family planning. (United State Agency for International Development (USAID), 2021).

Nigeria currently has one of the highest fertility rates in the world (World Bank, 2020) with the northwest region experiencing the highest rates within the country (National Population Commission, 2018). The 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) indicated that the total fertility rate in the northwest of the country was 6.6 live births per woman, and that women aged 40 to 49 years averaged 8.3 births in their reproductive lifetimes (National Population Commission, 2018). This high-fertility situation places women at greater risk of birth complications and maternal mortality. Nigeria currently has more maternal deaths annually than any other country in the world (Roser  et al., 2020) and the fourth highest maternal mortality ratio (WHO, 2020).

Contraceptive use to limit or space births is not the norm in this region. In the 2018 NDHS, only 6.2% of married women in the northwest were currently using any form of modern contraception, and the majority of married women - 68.7% - reported no need for family planning for either spacing or limiting (National Population Commission, 2018). Much of this absence of demand for family planning can be attributed to social norms for high fertility, pro-natal cultural and religious beliefs, misconceptions about contraceptive methods, and gender inequalities.

In our recent society, family planning has brought good knowledge among family and it’s has also brought day to day understanding among many families in our society. Among family who doesn’t understand the word family planning or the meaning of family planning, has now become problem facing in our society, looking the word ignorance and illiteracy in our society, many families understand the word family planning but they are ignorant of it, they don’t go to hospital where they can be inform properly on family matters and how they can raise their family, while some families are illiterate. The level of illiterate in the society should not be over look or emphases in our society with the help of elite in the society passing knowledge information and encouragement and important of family planning to families. Therefore, this research work aimed at finding attitudes of spouse towards the acceptance of family planning in Basic Health Centre Oke-Aro Community, Akure.

The aim of the study is to assess the attitudes of spouse towards the acceptance of family planning in Basic Health Centre Oke-Aro Community, Akure.

1.To assess the attitude of spouse towards family planning in Baic Health Centre in Oke-Aro Community.

2.To investigate the perception of spouse towards family planning in the study area

3.To find out the hindrances in the acceptance of family planning among spouse in the study area 

4.To reveal the solution to the identified hindrances in the acceptance of family planning among couples in the study area

Issues of maternal health are of global concern. To this end, one target of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 is “to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030” (UN, 2018). The findings and recommendations of this investigation will help the rural couples to have more information of family planning and there by embrace the main theme of the campaign planning one’s family for his & the general good. Acceptance of family planning or family planning practice can result in improving individuals’ dedication and how to manage themselves and the family and to prevent, delay or achieve a pregnancy. Family planning services include counseling and education, preconception care, screening and laboratory test. With the help of family planning, families learn more on how to live a convenience life and good relationship with the family. This research work will also serve as a reference for other researchers.

Some assumed that God will not be happy with them if they didn’t give birth to all the children within them

Some believe that the more children a person has that will be how great the persons burial will be.

Some believe that God will take care of those children in as much He is the one that gives them.

Some believes that the more children they have will determine how they will be respected.

Family Planning is the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births.

Leadership is the process by which an individual mobilizes people and resources to achieve a goal.

Mortality rate is a measure of the frequency of occurrence of death in a defined population during a specified interval. 

Pregnancy is the term used to describe the period in which a fetus develops inside a woman's womb or uterus.

Reproductive Age Group: is usually defined as 15-49 years or 12-49 years. 

Social Norm is the accepted behavior that an individual is expected to conform to in a particular group, community, or culture. 

Unintended Pregnancy is a pregnancy that is either unwanted, such as the pregnancy occurred when no children or no more children were desired. 

Spouse: Is the person to whom you are married; your husband or wife.

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