When Culture plays a Determinant Role in the Adoption of Family Planning amongst Families

Abstract

The study explored the influence of cultural factors on the use of family planning services by married women in Nkanu area, Enugu State, South East Nigeria. It focused on married women’s awareness and utilization of family planning services (FPS), factors determining married women’s use of the services, the problems that arise as a result of their not accessing family planning, who decides when to access or not to access these family planning services in marriage?  The study adopted a qualitative survey method by reviewing existing literatures and data. The study also adopted the Marxist Feminist perspective which argues that women, as a class, are oppressed by social relations in decision making. The research findings showed that the culture of patriarchy, women illiteracy, financial strain and depressing economic condition of the country amongst others were cultural determinants of access and adoption of family planning services among rural families. This study suggests that door to door sensitization which will involve husbands workshops and conferences should be employed as strategies to increase knowledge of family planning in the research area and by extension all other rural areas of the nation.