Socio –Economic And Cultural Barriers To Family Planning Practices Among Rural Women In Murang’a North Sub County, Muranga County, Kenya

Abstract

The study examined the socio-economic and cultural barriers to family planning (FP) practices in Murang’a North District. It was guided by the Normative Reference Group Theory advanced by Huttler and Eden (1995) .Combinations of purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 215 women from Kiharu, Kangema and MathioyaConstituencies in Muranga North sub-County, Muranga County, Kenya. Structured questionnaires, interview schedules and focus group discussion guidelines were the main research instruments used to collect data. The findings established that the main socio-economic and cultural factors inhibiting use of FP in decreasing order of magnitude were : bias, prejudices, and misconceptions regarding FP; value attached to children; gender inequality in decision making process regarding FP issues; and poor attitudes regarding FP amongst most members of community in the study locale. It was concluded that current use of FP is still very low in the study locale. It was recommended that FP campaigns should be intensified at county level, targeting both the educated and married couples whose current use of FP was still very low [174 words].