A myriad of different factors affect a person’s personal
decisions about what types of family planning method he
should use:
Effectiveness
People who are not in a financial or emotional situation to
have children might opt for the most effective type of
family planning in order to avoid pregnancy. A couple or
woman with a casual approach towards parenthood, such
as not actively pursuing it, but not unwilling to take it on,
might choose a less certain form of contraception, such
as natural family planning.
Religion
Some religions, such as Catholicism, have restrictions on
contraception based on the belief that it is God’s will to
bring children into the world. According to Dixon-Muller
(1999), religious believers or observers might choose to
avoid certain methods of family planning, such as birth
control pill, in an effort to live their lives according to the
teachings of their religion.
Cost
Some forms of contraception, such as minor surgery (like
vasectomy), carry a fairly significant amount of one’s time
and is very cost as compared to other options, such as
condom or the calendar cycle methods which are less
expensive; hence, couples engage in them.
Health risk
For people with multiple sexual partners, the choice to
use family planning devices helps them to keep healthy.
For example, using condoms can reduce the chance of
contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Permanence
Some contraception choices, such as vasectomy, are
usually permanent. So couples who do not want to have
children at present, but would like to have one in the
future, might want to choose a less – permanent option
such as condoms or birth control pills.
Partner involvement
One has to consider the preferences of his or her partner
when choosing a birth control option. For example, some
men do not like to have sex using a condom. In that case,
birth control pills might be a better choice for preventing
an unwanted pregnancy, according to the National
Institute of Health (Olaitan, 2009).
Socio-economic factors
There are some contraceptive methods of family planning
that are expensive, and some couples cannot afford to
use or purchase them due to their financial situations in
the society.
For instance, people in rural areas cannot afford to use
the expensive contraceptive methods of family planning
such as vasectomy, Intra-uterine devices (IUD) (which
are small, flexible, plastic frame inserted in the vagina of
women) and female sterilization method.
Cultural norms factors
This is the most important factor influencing the choice of
family planning among couples. This includes: community
norms, religious belief and gender role.
Community norms
Community norms also prescribe how much autonomy an
individual has in making family planning decisions. The
larger the differences in reproductive intentions within a
community, the more likely the community norms support
individual choices.
Household and community influence can be so
powerful that they can obscure the line between
individual desires and community norms. For instance, in
some culture, many women reject contraception because
bearing and raising children is the path to respect and
dignity in the society. People are often unaware that such
community norms influence their choices. In other cases,
they are particularly aware. For example, young people
often decide not to seek for family planning because they
do not want their parents or other adults to know that they
are sexually active.
Some couples in the community feel that bearing
children is the major aim of their marriage, as tradition,
customs and beliefs. In some northern part of Nigeria,
especially the Islamic religion, they believe that bearing
more children will indicate how wealthy they are, in which
they tend to withdraw themselves from the use of family
planning.
Religious factors
Family planning choice depends on the religion of the
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couple. It may be Islam or Christianity that calls for
raising and bearing of more children in the society. Some
religions, such as Catholicism, have restriction on
contraception based on the belief that it is “God’s will to
bring children” into the world.
Gender role
Some couples want to have a male child; and in cases
when the child born to them is female, the family is
unhappy. Therefore, the couple may wish to have
another child in order to have a male child.