Attitudes of Rural Women Towards Family Planning and Fertility in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State

Abstract

Family planning is not only important to the society as a whole; it is a good health measure for the life of mothers, fathers and children. On the other hand, the attitude of knowledge and rural women in discouraging base on this that the researchers were pushed to undertake a study on the attitude of knowledge and rural women towards family planning in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State. Four research questions were clearly stated and questionnaire generated for the questions. The findings of the study revealed that religious belief affect family planning. Traditional religion encourages multiple births. This practice affects child bearing and consequently family planning. It was equally discovered that Obudu culture equally encourages polygamy which made it difficult for family planning. It was also found that rural women cannot adopt family planning because of the need to satisfy their husbands, while other beliefs that family planning is expensive and have adverse side effect on child bearing.