Fertility Desires and Contraceptive Practices of Rural Women in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria

Aim: This study aimed at determining fertility desires and contraceptive practices of rural women in Sokoto as well as factors affecting them.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, involving 218 women who were recruited using a multi-stage sampling technique. An Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents, which was entered into and analysed using IBM SPSS version 20.

Results: About sixty-seven percent of the respondents desired more than five children and more than half desired shorter birth interval of two years. A large proportion (87.4%) of the respondents were aware of contraception in which friends and relatives, as well as health personal, were the main sources of information. Only 4.9% of the respondents were currently on contraception. Major reasons for low contraceptives usage include religious inhibitions, husband disapproval and fear of side effects

Conclusion: In this study, the respondents had high fertility desires and although a large proportion of them was aware of contraception, very few of them used it. We, therefore, recommended that health workers should create more awareness on the benefits of contraception.