Determinants of the unmet need for family planning among married fecund women in Natmauk Township, Magway Region of Myanmar

Abstract

Family Planning plays an important role in improving maternal and child health by means of adequate spacing of child births and preventing unintended pregnancies. Reducing unmet need is crucial in fighting against the high levels of induced abortions, maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2018 to April 2018 in Natmauk township, Magway region of Myanmar. A total of 420 married women of reproductive age (18-49 years) were enrolled in this study and two-stage stratified sampling was used to draw a sample. The data were collected by face to face interview with a structured questionnaire.

Total percentage of unmet need for family planning in the study area was 18.1% and the percentage of
contraceptive use was 71.7%. After using multiple logistic regression, older women aged more than 35 years (Adj OR=2.49, 95% CI=1.48-4.19), poor attitude towards family planning (Adj OR=1.79, 95% CI=1.02-3.14), women who got low social support from husband and friends (Adj OR=1.93, 95% CI=1.13-3.31) were more likely to have unmet need for family planning than their counterparts. The main reasons for not using contraception were fear of side effects and desire to get more children.

It is notable that the prevalence of unmet need for family planning was high especially among women within older age group, women with poor attitude towards family planning and women who got low social support from their husbands and friends. Local government and health authorities should implement comprehensive health programs which should be focused on the women as well as their husbands. Furthermore, providing counselling strategies for family planning while integrating participation of women and their husbands to improve the attitude towards family planning are need to be promoted.