Family Planning Behaviour of Male Civil Servants in Ibadan, South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Men play critical roles in women's ability to seek health care and Reproductive Health programmes are likely to be more effective when men are involved in some way. The study was designed to assess the family planning (FP) behaviour of male civil servants in Ibadan, and determine their roles in their spouses' FP practices. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey carried out among 403 currently married male civil servants working in 8 selected ministries in Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan, Nigeria. The mean age of the respondents' in this study was 44 ±9.74. Two hundred and twenty two (55.1%) desired to have 1 – 4 children in their lives while 117 (29.0%) desired 5-8 children. Though most of all the respondents, 292 (72.5%) opined that decisions on family planning practice should be jointly reached by the couple and many, 202 (50.1%) remind their wives to use contraceptive, only 91 (22.6%) attended family planning clinics with their wives. The results showed that though many of the male civil servants in Ibadan desired small sized family and actually encouraged their wives to use their contraceptives, most were not willing to attend FP clinic with their spouses. FP clinics and services should be made more men-friendly and strategies to reach out to men should be devised. 

Key words: Family planning behaviour, clinic attendance, Male civil servants