Family planning needs of married women of reproductive age in selected barangays in the Municipality of Zarraga, Iloilo

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted to determine the Family Planning Needs of Married Women of Reproductive Age in Selected Barangays in the Municipality of Zarraga, Iloilo. More specifically, this study aimed to determine the characteristics of married women of reproductive age, their level of knowledge about Family Planning, their attitude towards Family Planning and their accessibility to Family Planning Services. It was also aimed to determine the relationship between the characteristics of married women and their level of knowledge about Family Planning, their attitude towards Family Planning and their access to Family Planning Services. The study also aimed to determine the relationship between knowledge about Family Planning and their attitude towards Family Planning. Lastly, this study aimed to determine Family Planning needs and its relationship to the women’s characteristics, their level of knowledge about Family Planning, their attitude towards Family Planning and their access to Family Planning Services. The respondents of the study were 141 married women of reproductive age who were identified and selected using systematic random sampling. Data were gathered through an interview schedule. The data obtained were processed with the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Plus software and were subjected to statistical tests such as frequency, percentage, appropriate measures of Central Tendency and Chi square. The findings showed that there is no significant relationships between the characteristics of married women and their level of knowledge about family planning, their attitude towards it and their accessibility to family planning services. Likewise, their level of knowledge has no significant bearing on their attitude towards family planning. Also, level of knowledge about family planning and their attitude towards family planning is not significantly related to their family planning needs as shown by the fact that most women were knowledgeable about family planning and have a favorable attitude towards it. However, findings showed that family planning needs is significantly related to the number of children, if need is for spacing birth and limiting birth. It was found out that the need for birth spacing is high for women with 3 children and below and the need for limiting birth is high among women with 7 and more children. Family planning need is also significantly related with the sources of information about family planning. The result of the study is conclusive since systematic random sampling was utilized and the respondents were identified from the randomly selected rural and urban barangays of Zarraga, Iloilo. The observed trends are applicable not only to the specified women respondents but as well as to the general population of women of reproductive age.