Contraceptive Practices among Married Women of Reproductive Age Group in Ogbomoso Metropolis, Nigeria

Background: Unplanned pregnancies are on the increase in Nigeria, and there is enough evidence that family planning can drastically reduce the incidence of unplanned/unwanted pregnancies which could invariably bring to the barest minimum the upsurge of maternal mortality and infant mortality rates worldwide, most especially in developing countries.

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning among women in the reproductive age group (i.e., 15–49 years) within Ogbomoso Metropolis.

Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Ogbomoso Metropolis using multi-stage sampling. The study subjects consisted of all married women in the age group of 15–49 years. Women who were divorced, widowed, single women, as well as those who refused to participate, were excluded from the study.

Results: It was observed that out of 400 respondents, 373 (93.2%) were aware a form of family planning or the other and source of information was mainly from health workers (93.8%). Three hundred and fifty (87.5%) approved the use of contraceptives by couples, 35 (8.8%) do not approve it and 15 (3.8%) were indifferent. Less than half 169 (42.2%) were currently using contraceptives out of which most of them were using IUCD 71(42.0%) followed by injectables 46 (27.2%). Test of dependency using Chi-Square revealed a significant association between the knowledge about contraceptives and religion, as well as with occupation of respondents.

Conclusion: Only two-fifths of respondents were currently on a family planning method, and the primary reason for non- usage was the fear of side effect. It is therefore recommended that family planning commodity researchers should work more in reducing the side effects associated with family planning usage.