Publications

Family Planning services are preventive health services that provide quality, low cost andeasily accessible reproductive health care to women and men during their reproductiveyears. Family planning is often limited to the use of contraception. However, family planningprovides a holistic service that aims to promote a positive view of sexuality and enablepeople to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being.It also ensures that resources are available for raising a child in significant amounts, whichinclude time, finance and social environment at intervals mutually determined by bothpartners to have their desired number of children. Studies indicates that the utilization offamily planning services in Uganda is low when compared to high population growth rate inAfrica, high fertility that translates into high population growth. Many scholars reported thatit is likely that the utilization of family planning services can alter the population growthrate. Studies have also shown that contraceptive knowledge and usage is very low in Uganda,hence the reason for the high fertility and increase population. The study aimed atdetermining the awareness and utilization of family planning among mothers attendingantenatal care at Kampala international university Ishaka Bushenyi district western Uganda.A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. 349 questionnaires were distributed to349 women of reproductive age of which all of them were retrieved. Data were analyzedusing Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were used tosummarize and organize the data. Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to test for associationbetween variables and the level of significant was set at 5% (0.05) Results from this studyshow that (84.4%) respondent’s utilization of family planning services depends on husband’sacceptance of the family planning method. The study also found that the mothers’ attitudestowards contraception and their beliefs all influence the utilization of family planning.Academic attainment and knowledge of family planning methods were significant andinfluenced family planning use. The study showed that family planning used depends on thehusband’s acceptance of the family planning method. This study also recommends thatspouses be continuously involved in family planning education as their approval influencesfamily planning. It is hoped that the knowledge of this research will help health care giversto provide adequate health education to clients and family in the community to expand theirknowledge of family planning services to ensure adequate child spacing and reproductivehealth. Thus, preventing unintended pregnancies, reduce maternal and child morbidity andmortality rate.