Women's Perception on Family Planning in Edo South Senatorial District

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the perception of women in the Edo South Senatorial District towards family planning. Five research questions were raised to enable the achievement of the purpose of the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The Population of the study is made up of women in rural communities in Edo South Senatorial District, while the sample for the study consisted of two hundred (200) respondents selected using the simple random sampling technique. The major instrument employed for the collection of data for the study was the questionnaire. The instrument was validated using the expert’s judgment approach, while the Cronbach Alpha procedure was used to determine its reliability. An index of 0.76 was obtained, indicating that the instrument was reliable. Mean statistics were used for data analysis. Findings from the study revealed that the available family planning programmes are condoms, prolonged breastfeeding, and abstinence, the level of adoption of family planning by rural women is very low and that the use of family planning can be improved by organized enlightenment programmes for women about family planning during clinics, teaching husbands about the benefits of family planning, increased accessibility of family planning packs, reduction in the cost of modern family planning methods, discussing family planning during community meetings and women meetings. Based on the findings and conclusions from the study, it was recommended that Government agencies, NGOs, and Organisations should encourage women to participate in family development programmes in order to enable them gain a clearer understanding of family planning and what they stand to benefit from it. Government and non-governmental organisations working in rural communities should adopt and, where necessary, adapt the suggestions of the community people in order to improve family planning and development in rural communities. Keywords: perception, women, family planning, Edo south senatorial district