Women's knowledge, Attitudes and practices about family Planning

ABSTRACT

This work aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices [KAP] of married women towards family planning. The data was collected by interviewing married women [n = 351] attending 4 randomly selected MCH centers in Alexandria. It was found that none of women knew sound definition of family planning. The most popular contraceptive methods [known or used] are intrauterine devices [IUDs] and contraceptive pills. The most common sources of information were the mass media and primary health care [PHC] units. The most common source of contraceptive methods was the MCH centers. There was a significant gap between the family planning ideals, such as number of children, birth interval and age at pregnancy, and the actual ones. One third of women were never use contraceptives. The pregnancy was unwanted among two third of those who are pregnant at the time of interview. The discontinuation rate was 38.1% and it is mainly due to the desire to become pregnant, side effects, inconvenience and dissatisfaction of the used method. The knowledge and use of contraceptives was significantly related to the level of women education