Factors influencing the choice of family planning

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Avatar for Saratu10
4 years ago

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

Olaitan 229

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.

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