Knowledge, Perception and Misconceptions on Family Planning among Women Living in an Urban Slum in Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria

Introduction: Family planning is a vital and integral component of primary health care which aims at promoting responsible parenthood, controlling population and improving the quality of life of people. It has a major role to play globally in challenges of rapid population growth. This study aimed to identify knowledge gaps, perceptions and misconceptions on family planning.

Methodology: This was descriptive cross sectional study using pretested, interviewer administered questionnaire. It was community based involving house to house visit. Due to the scattered nature of the houses, the researcher roughly grouped the area into zones to ensure approximately equal representation then proportionately respondents were recruited consecutively. Chi square test was used to assess associations between socio-demographics characteristics and ever heard of family planning while binary logistic regression was further used to establish associated factors. The level of significance was at p ≤ 0.05.

Results: A total of 281 women of reproductive age (15-49) were studied. About 91.1% of respondents have heard of family planning, 69.4% heard of it from their friends/relatives. Condom (81.5%) was the commonest method of contraceptive they knew about. Also 85% believe that family planning was important and 79% stated that it helps one to have the desired number of children while 44 % of them stated that it predisposes one to infertility. Educational level was the only identified predictor (secondary education AOR 0.33; tertiary education AOR 0.16).

Conclusion: High proportions of respondents from this study were aware of family planning and believe that it is important. However, a small proportion agrees to the negative effects. Understanding the myths and misconceptions about family planning will greatly influence the knowledge and perceptions as well as bring about behavioral change on family planning with increased uptake. Their education though good still needed improvement since it is a key determinant.