2024/07/10 by Briggs, Nduye, Abo, Inye
#Family planning #contraception #determinants #knowledge
paper · doi:10.60787/tnhj.v24i2.810
Background: Family planning is a cost-effective public health practice that safeguards women against high-risk pregnancies, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. It lowers maternal mortality by employing a variety of contraceptive techniques. The study aimed to identify contraceptive use and determinants of knowledge of family planning among mothers attending antenatal clinics at a health facility in Rivers State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 284 mothers who attended antenatal clinics at the Model Primary Health Care Centre was conducted for three months. Data was collected using semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaires, and IBM SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was used for the predictors of maternal knowledge. Results: One hundred and seventy-eight (178, 62.7%) mothers were between the ages of 21 and 30 years, with a mean age of 26.8 ± 4.6 years. 209 (73.6%) mothers agreed that family planning was beneficial. Thirty-seven (37, 13.0%) mothers had poor knowledge, 69 (24.3%) had fair knowledge, and 178 (62.7%) had good knowledge of family planning. The injectables (214, 49.1%) were the frequently used methods. Age, marital status, educational status, occupation, and antenatal clinic attendance were determinants of the level of family planning knowledge. However, only marital status and antenatal clinic attendance were predictors of maternal knowledge of family planning. Conclusion: The proportion of mothers with poor and fair knowledge of family planning is high. Taking injectables might be more convenient than other methods; hence, the higher preference.