Women’s Knowledge and Attitude toward Contraceptive Methods

Abstract

Introduction: Contraception empowers women by giving them reproductive control. By deferring pregnancy, a woman can restore opportunities for education, employment, and social and political advancement. Objective: This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and attitude of married women toward contraceptive methods. Methods: A descriptive survey design was adopted to assess the knowledge and attitude of married women toward contraceptive methods. A sample of 622 married women was selected, and the data were collected through the questionnaire. Results: All the sample women were literate and about 70% have studied up to high school, and 55% of respondents had their first conception between 21 and 24 years and 64.3% had more than one pregnancy. 90.4% of respondents have knowledge about availability of temporary and permanent contraceptive methods. Awareness about sterilization methods is the highest (82%) among the respondents followed by copper-T (76.5%) and condom (65.3%). The attitude of sample women is found to be positive toward contraceptive methods. Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed that the overall knowledge score of the sample women is around 50% and a low level of awareness is observed in the components such as oral contraceptive pills, injectable contraceptives, emergency contraceptives and vasectomy. Therefore, it is necessary to promote awareness about various contraceptive methods.