Socio-Cultural Determinants and Implications of the Use of Contraceptives Among Women in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

This focus of the study is on Socio-Cultural Determinants and Implications of the Use of Contraceptives among Women in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. This is based on the fact that in spite of efforts being made for people to utilize birth control measures, the effect can hardly be felt in rural area. Therefore, the study set out to examine the level of awareness of contraceptives use among women in Izzi local government area, the extent the women use contraceptives, the cultural barriers militating against their use of contraceptives and the factors that determine who uses contraceptives among these women. To achieve these, survey research design was adopted. Data were collected with structured questionnaire and were analyzed using frequency and simple percentages. The result showed that cultural barriers to the use of contraceptives by women in Izzi local government area include: fear of side effects, religious beliefs, poverty, lack of male involvement from family planning, and low involvement of women in decision making in their homes. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that there is need for government authorities, community leaders and NGOs to carry out far reaching sensitization in the rural communities on the use of contraceptive among women to ensure effective utilization of birth control measures.