Family planning knowledge and practice among Nigerian women attending an antenatal clinic.

This study investigates family planning activity in 308 Nigerian women attending an antenatal clinic. Family planning awareness was present in 234 women (76%) and practice occurred in 168 (54.5%). Proposal to practice family planning occurred in 66 of 137 women who had never used contraception while 69 (22.4%) had no intention to practice family planning. The best-known type of contraception was the condom, 182 (59.1%); the most common used, the safe period (rhythm), 73 women (23.7%); while Billings' contraception was the most commonly proposed type, 72 women (23.4%). Knowledge of the beneficial effects of the chosen method of contraception was claimed by 102 women (43.6%) while 33 (14.2%) conceded ignorance of this. Similarly, 81 women (34.6%) claimed to know the adverse effects of their chosen method of contraception, while 119 (50.9%) admitted ignorance of it. The most common source of information on contraception was the printed media, 112 (47.9%), while the least common was lecture/sex instruction, 27 (11.5%). Lack of adequate information and ignorance are key factors militating against family planning practice in Nigeria. Family planning activity in Nigeria would be improved by wider dissemination of information on family planning through public lectures and the electronic media; training of family planning counselors to facilitate grass-roots coverage; universal entrenchment of family planning counseling into routine antenatal clinic activities; and integration of private medical centers into the national family planning service.