ABSTRACT
Characteristics, family
planning communications campaigns and contraceptive behavior; to examine the relationship
between specific media campaigns and family planning methods. Our population
and sample size will be from the
general public living in Agege Local Government Area and also some selected
staff of the secretariat. Evaluation of data collected and seemed to establish
relationship with our earlier stated variables in order to draw our
inferences. In chapter five, the research work will deal with drawing
inferences from the data collected and making our recommendations and eventual
conclusion.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Contents Pages
Front Page i
Title page ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgment v
Table of contents vii
Abstract x
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement
of the Problem 9
1.3 Significance
of the Study 10
1.4 Objective
of the Study 11
1.5 Research
Questions 11
1.6 Scope
and Delimitation of the Study 12
1.7
Definition of Terms 13
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 Literature Review 14
2.3 Theoretical Orientation 21
2.4:1 Methods of
Family Planning 25
2.4.2 Natural Family Planning 30
2.4:3 Natural Birth Control Methods 32
2.4.4: Briefing History of Family Programme in Nigeria
40
2.5 Research Hypotheses 43
CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction 44
3.2
The Study Population 44
3.3
Sample Size and Sample
Procedures 45
3.4
Research Instrument and Data Collection Method 46
3.5
Method of Data Analysis 48
3.6
Field Experience 48
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Introduction 50
4.2 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 50
4.3 Results 53
4.4 Test of Hypotheses 60
4.5 Discussion of Findings 62
CHAPTER
FIVE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary 65
5.2 Conclusion 67
5.3 Recommendation 68
References
70
Appendix 75
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF
THE STUDY
With a growing population tipping towards 200 million
people in 2015, experts are beginning to express fears about the capacity of
Nigeria in managing such population amid poverty and burden of healthcare. This
has prompted the federal government to subtly suggest birth control for its
citizen with serious backlash and dichotomy between proponents and opponents. In
the quest to stem the tide of unbridled population growth, the government of
the federal republic of Nigeria in 2002 came out with a population policy paper
on family planning and fertility regulation.
According to the policy paper, the value of family
planning and the child spacing on the stability and wellbeing of family shall
be promoted and family service shall be incorporated in maternal and child
health care. This is to help reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality
as well as reduce rapid population growth in the shortest possible time in
order to ensure sustainable development which can be achieved only by reducing
population growth to bring it to per with the available national resources.
This will invariably lead to the attainment of good
quality life and high standard of living in the country. It is perhaps because
of the foregoing world leader in 1974 accepted family planning as a human right
of individuals and couples. Article 14(F) of the World Population Plan of Action
states that: “all couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely
and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the
information, education and means to do so; the responsibility of couples and
individuals in the exercise of the right takes into account the needs of their
living and future children, and their responsibility towards the community”.
Though there is a growing interest with the intense
efforts of the government to popularize the use of modern family planning
methods by integrating it unto maternal and child health in Nigeria, it seems
many people still do not apply planning methods.
Is population Nigeria’s biggest problem? Whatever
answer that is likely to come out; fears are being expressed concerning Nigeria’s
rising population. From a little number of 55 million people in the 1950s,
before independence, Nigeria’s population grew astronomically to about 80
million in the 1990s. Today, that figure is pecked around 167 million people.
If the nation’s population is left to grow
uncontrolled, the national resources will sooner or later be outstripped by
increasing demand of the growing population. Aside the political undertone of
population, a high population carries with it many burdens that may even over
power the state in handling. An increased population for Nigeria will also over
stretch services and infrastructure.
In all the challenges that come with high population
density, poor healthcare remains the biggest headache. In the long run, it may
lead to total collapsed of the social system. These are the fears being
expressed by the government, prompting government officials to conceive the
idea of family planning. Observers
believed that high population will ever remain an impediment to her development
until something is done about it. In the 1990s, the Ibrahim Babangida military
government even attempted compulsory family planning for Nigerians. A policy
that was greeted by strong opposition and critisms.
Though there is a growing interest with the intense
efforts of the government to popularize the use of modern family planning
method by integrating it into maternal and child health in Nigeria, it seems
many people still do not apply family planning methods. This is essence brings
to mind the role mass media will play to make effective the issue of family
planning in a country like Nigeria that the literacy level is not at optimal.
The influence and pervasiveness of the mass media can
be found everywhere around us today, and they are everywhere respected. We must
search long and hard to find a Nigerian who will say that information provided by
the media is not generally good for him or her in one way or another. We can
say with large measure of certainty that one of the primary assumptions held by
most Nigerians is that the media and the information derived from them have
influenced our thought, attitudes and behaviors.
Thus, the mass media touch nearly every one of us
every day, socially and culturally. The mass media can affect the way we think
about issues around us and they can influence what we think about and the way
we eat, talk, work, study and relax. This is the impact of mass media on the
society.
Lindroos and Lukkainen (2004) contend that Nigeria is
a country where modern family planning usage is one of the lowest in the world.
This may be due to lack of useful information to those who really need the
information as a majority of the Nigerian populace live in the rural areas
where there is poor access to modern means of communication including the mass
media.
Odaman (2005) family planning provides the society with
some socio-economic and health benefits. Awareness of such benefits can
significantly enhance the use of contraceptives, which in turn, will reduce
population growth and overtime have positive effects on national development.
In this connection, Ugoji (2008) observes that family
planning programs strive to prevent unwanted pregnancies, help achieve birth
spacing and help couples limit family size so as to reduce maternal/infant
mortality. Further, Odaman (2005) enumerates some of the family planning methods
to include the use of safe period, calendar or rhythm, oral pills, condoms,
injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs), Norplant and sterilization.
As regards the foregoing modern methods, Oladeji
(2008) contends that communication and decision making play a vital role in
ensuring informed choice of family
planning and reproductive health behavior. Effective communication/decision
making allows people to seek what is best for their own health and to exercise
their right to good quality health care (Rimal et al.2002). In the same vein,
it has been argued that mass media, especially radio and television have been
quite effective in creating family planning awareness in urban Nigeria.
Perhaps, this is because the urban dwellers have greater access to the mass
media.
Raising a child requires significant amounts or
resources: time, social, financial and environmental planning can help assure
that resources are available. The purpose of family planning is to make sure
that any couple, man, woman who has the desire to have a child has the
resources that are needed in order to complete this goal. With these resources
a couple, man, or women can explore the options of natural birth, surrogacy,
artificial insemination, or adoption. In the other case, if the person does not
wish to have a child at a specific time, they can investigate the resources
that are needed to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control, contraceptives, or
physical protection and predominantly urban areas, about 90% of all urban
house-holds have radios and about 60% own televisions in Nigeria (information,
education and communication, IEC, July 1996) and the likelihood that people
living in urban areas would readily have access to family planning information
as purveyed through radio and television media is high. But to make this level
of family planning awareness effective among the generality of Nigerians, the
mass media should have a hold in the rural areas where a larger number of
people live.
The spread of television and radio, the rise of an
independent press, and increasing literacy rates in many countries offer new
opportunities for family planners and other health care organizations to inform
the public and reach opinion leaders (piotrow et al 1994). Making the most of
these opportunities requires skill in helping the news media cover family planning.
Since 1972, the average family size in developing countries has dropped from six
or seven children per woman to about three children.
This trend has saved millions of lives and provided
additional benefits to women and children who when healthy can achieve greater
levels of education and empowerment (International Planned Parenthood
Federation, PPF 1992).
Despite the gain, contraceptive use is still low and
needs high usage in some of the world’s poorest and most populous places,
including Nigeria. At least, three in 10
pregnancies are unintended in some regions, and millions of couples are still
unable to effectively choose the number and timing of their children.
The use of safe, voluntary contraception is also accepted
worldwide. In 1994, representatives from
179 nations met in Cairo, Egypt at the international conference on population
and development and agreed to provide reproductive health care to all people by
the year 2015 – a goal that called for countries to ‘meet the family planning
needs to their population’ and provide ‘universal access to a full range of
safe and reliable family planning methods’ (Population Reference Bureau, PRB
2004).
Waiting until the mother is at least 18 years old before
trying to have children improves maternal and child health. Also, if additional
children are desired after a child is born; it is healthier for the mother and
the child to wait at least -1 years after the previous birth before attempting
to conceive (but not more than 5 years). After a miscarriage or abortion, it is
healthier to wait at least 6 months.
When planning a family, women who are over at least 30
years of age should be aware of the risks of having a child at that age. Like
older men, older women are at higher risk of having a child with autism and
Down syndrome, the chances of having multiple births increases, which cause
further late-pregnancy risks, they have an increased chance of developing
gestational diabetes, the need for a Caesarian section is greater, older women's bodies are not
as well-suited for delivering a baby.
Family planning benefits the health and well-being of
women and families throughout the world. Using contraception can help to avoid
unwanted pregnancies and space births; protect against STDs, including
HIV/AIDS; and provide other health benefits
Raising a child requires significant
amounts of resources: time, social, financial, and environmental. Planning can
help assure that resources are available. The purpose of family planning is to
make sure that any couple, man, or woman who has the desire to have a child has
the resources that are needed in order to complete this goal.
With these resources a couple, man or
women can explore the options of natural birth, surrogacy, artificial
insemination, or adoption. In the other case, if the person does not wish to
have a child at the specific time, they can investigate the resources that are
needed to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control, contraceptives, or physical
protection and prevention.
There is understandably a strong
interest within population policy and family planning program circles in the
potential impact that try to inform and motivate on the methods and advantages
of regulating family planning.
These messages can take many forms,
ranging from soap operas on radio and television designed to persuade women of
the personal and social advantages of smaller families to spot advertisements
about methods and clinics. However, what is media evidence that such efforts
actually influence individual’s reproductive attitudes and behavior?
The application of mass communication to influence family
planning is a natural extension to the basic idea that the media can inform and
motivate people. Communication efforts have become increasingly widespread in
developing world as part
of international technical assistance and government program designed to reduce
fertility. l clay, many more citizens listen to the radio than read newspapers
or watch television.
The focus of this work is to illustrate the analysis of
the efforts and impact of mass media on family planning.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The application of mass media to influence fertility is a
natural extension of the basic idea that the media can both inform and motivate
people, even about such complex subjects as their reproductive means and goals.
There is understandably a strong interest within population policy and family
planning and the roles mass media plays to get the message across to the
population.
What is the evidence that such efforts actually influence
reproductive attitudes and behavior? What are women's exposures to family
planning messages in the media as measured by their recall of those messages? Is
there any positive effect to contraceptive use especially by women who stand
the risk of repeated pregnancy through unprotected sex? How does the spouse
respond to issues of contraceptive use by their wives viz-a-viz truth and
fidelity?
Does these of
contraceptive encourage promiscuity° among married women?
In the course of knowing the
problems and effects the effects that are being created by family punning and
the role of mass media in creating the needed awareness, the following critical
questions are examined.
·
How has media awareness created the needed information that will help
couples plan their family?
·
What are the cultural barriers that will militate against access to birth
control drugs and programmes?
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
·
This research is significant because it provides the basis for further
research into this topic by providin6 related data. The
importance is underscored in the strategic position mass media play -s in every
facet of human life and development.
·
Again, the issue of quality of life for mother and child and high infant
and maternal death adds more credence to the significance of this study.
·
Again, the issue of duality of life for mother and child and high infant
and maternal death adds more credence to the significance of this study.
·
In all, that study will be
useful to health planners to fashion out better ways to project quality of
safe life and living for the women and children population in setting
achievable standards concerning media influence on family planning in the
society.
1.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
In a bid to ensure that this study is relevant in the
field of academic profession certain aims have been designed for this research work. The aims that this research was
carried out have the following objectives in mind;
·
To examine and
determine the knowledge and perception of the people of Agege community towards
family planning.
·
To examine the
impact of mass media on family planning in the community.
·
To suggest methods
to bring about improvement to the health of both the mother and child.
·
Assessment of government
attitude towards family planning and quality of health of mothers.
·
To advance
solutions to the problems of media influence on family planning.
·
To recommend
positive ways towards family planning.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In the course of knowing the problems that couples face
when selecting methods of family planning and the role of mass media in creating the needed awareness, the study intends to
provide answers to these questions;
·
Do people in the
rural areas have access to mass
communication methods like the urban dwellers?
·
What is the
cognitive level of family planning and family planning devices available to
them'?
·
What influences the
attitude and decision of per rejection of family planning methods available to
them''
·
How has media
awareness created the needed information that will help couples plan their
family?
·
What are the
cultural barriers that will militate against access to birth control drugs and
programmes?
1.6 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF STUDY
The scope of this research project is centered on the influence of mass
media on family planning in Agege Local Government area of Lagos State. The
study tried to capture the effect of mass media in dissemination of family
planning information as it has a wider reach and immediacy effect. It also
looked at health issues surrounding child and maternal and mortality.
Time and financial constraints are two limitations to this study.
Subsequent difficulty was encountered in obtaining data from the general
public, nursing mother, hospitals etc. Shortage of literature review was
another inhibiting factor. It was also difficult in getting young mothers and
pregnant mothers to divulge information.
This research is significant because it provides the basis for further
research into this topic by providing related data. The importance is
underscored in the strategic position mass media plays in every facet of human
life and development.
Again, the issue will be useful to health planners to fashion out better
ways to project quality of safe life and living for the women and children
population in setting achievable standards concerning media influence on family
planning in the society.
1.8
DEFINATION OF TERMS
MASS MEDIA: this includes all means of effective
communication with the larger society like radio, television, internet,
billboards, fliers, magazine and journals, periodical, etc.
MEDIA: This includes all means and
equipments used in the effective’s dissemination of information.
FAMILY PLANNING: Modern method of spacing children
for effective planning of the family and care of both the mother’s health and the
child
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