ABSTRACT
Introduction: Proper intervention of family planning needs informed, active and volunteered cooperation of all people and families. Such cooperation can only be insured through education
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the educational needs of women referring for birth delivery to Al-zahra Educational center regarding family planning methods in 2002
Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 285 pregnant women who were randomly chosen on even days in postpartum unit. Data was collected through a questionnaire, which was used to determine its validity and reliability
Results: The mean age was 26.7 years, with 2.2 pregnancies, 2.1 deliveries, and 6.9 years of married life. From all samples 55.1% lived in cities and 57.7% were illiterates or had elementary schooling and only 3.2% had education higher than high school. 61.8% of samples had information about contraceptives and 56.1% of them received this information from health centers and only 1.4% mentioned TV as their source of information. And 27.7% of samples had low level of information about natural methods of contraception and 10.2% had efficient level of information which indicated that 89.8% need information at a moderate to high level. In regard to hormonal contraceptives, 41.8% had needed information and only 9.8% had little information that needs more education. In relation to their knowledge level about surgical methods, 18.2% had low-level Knowledge who needs more education and 62.8% had moderate to high level of knowledge regarding barriers. The findings also showed that there is a significant correlation between education level, knowledge, number of pregnancy and delivery, years of marriage and knowledge needs [P<0.02]
Conclusion: Increasing the knowledge level of people about family planning is essential and can play an important role in preventing and decreasing economic and social problems