Intensive efforts in promoting family planning concepts and contraceptive delivery in the Third World over the past two- and one-half decades have yielded only token dividends . This has occurred in Nigeria, despite the favorable government attitude. A study of the characteristics of current contraceptive acceptors showed an overwhelming percentage of acceptors are uneducated , married and from the lower socioeconomic class, a striking departure from usual expectations. Most acceptors prefer oral contraceptives. The status of acceptance of modern contraception by the educated population is still undetermined. Contraceptives appeared to be used primarily by women aged 30 and older in our population.
PIP: An analysis of the characteristics of contraceptive acceptors in an urban area of Nigeria revealed that the overwhelming majority are uneducated, married, and from the lower socioeconomic class. The records of the 1443 new family planning acceptors in Ile-Ife in the 3-year period 1978-80 were examined. All acceptors were either currently married, separated, or widowed. The majority (78.4%) were ages 30-39 years; only 1.6% were under age 25. 53.9% had 5 or 6 living children and only 4.2% had 0-2 children, indicating that family planning is used to limit family size rather than to space births. In addition, fewer acceptors were noted when the family consisted of less than 2-3 male children, suggesting a strong son preference. 97.4% of acceptors were petty traders and 95% had no formal education. This finding tends to refute the assumption that educated women are disproportionately represented among family planning acceptors, although it is possible that these women obtain contraception through nongovernment outlets. Oral contraception was the most popular method (68.8%), followed by Depo-Provera (18.4%), IUD (6.4%), and vaginal tablets (6.4%). During the 3-year study period, pill acceptance showed a 37% increase while the other methods showed a progressive decline. Although Muslims comprise 35% of the population, they constituted only 4% of acceptors in this sample. 80% and 88% of 1978 and 1979 acceptors, respectively, were still attending the family planning clinic in 1980, suggesting that a high level of literacy is not necessary for effective use of contraception. Overall, these results indicate that contraception is used mainly by older, parous women. It is recommended that programs be developed to reach literate and semiliterate adolescents.