THE PERCEPTION OF MARRIED WOMEN ON FAMILY PLANNING IN ILORIN SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA ILORIN, KWARA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the perception of married women on family planning in ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State. The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of family planning on income and family health (ii) effects on health (iii) cost (iv), as a cause of infertility (v), and society, among married women. The population consists of one hundred (100) respondents. A multistage sampling technique was used for the study. Researcher’s designed a structured questionnaire, which was validated by three experts from the Department of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Education at the University of Ilorin, to collect information from the respondents. The completed questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages for the demographic data, while inferential statistics of the Chi-square (x²) statistical tool were used to analyze the hypotheses using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 to present and decide whether to reject or accept the stated hypotheses. A coefficient of r=0.64 was obtained. The findings of the study show that: Married women significantly perceive family planning as a means to maximize income and improve family health in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State; Married women significantly perceive family planning as having negative effect on their health in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State; Married women significantly perceive family planning as being expensive in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State; Married women significantly perceive family planning as a cause of infertility in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State; married women significantly perceive family planning as socially unacceptable in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State. Based on this finding, it was concluded that family planning is a means of reproductive health, it contributes to maximizing income and improving family health. Based on this result, it was recommended that the government provide free family planning services and employ health educators in various local primary health centers to sensitize married women on the benefits of family planning for their health and wellbeing.