Description:
Background - Unmet need for family planning is a problem of developing countries. Meeting
unmet need for family planning not only allows families to space and limit their births when
desired; it can also reduce the costs of meeting the MDGs. Evidences with regard to unmet
need for family planning and its associated factors are not enough in the study area. Therefore
this research tried to address this gap.
Objective - To assess magnitude and factors associated with unmet need for family planning
among currently married women in Dangila town Administration.
Methodology- A community based cross-sectional study involving quantitative method of data
collection was employed in Dangila town Administration from February to March 2014. A total
of 556 currently married women were proposed to be included in the study. The sample size to
each participant kebele was allocated using probability proportional to size allocation
considering each kebele family folder, and study participants for the interview were selected by
simple random sampling. Data was collected after obtaining consent from each respondent by
using a pretested structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Collected data was edited,
coded, and entered to SPSS version 16.0 and then bivariate and multivariate analysis was
done.
Result- A total of 551 currently married women participated in the study with response rate of
99.1%. The study revealed that 17.4% of respondents had unmet need for family planning, from
which 12.2% was for spacing and 5.2% was for limiting. In multivariate analysis respondent's
occupation housewife/farmer [OR=6.81 (1.91-24.29)], counseling not given about FP by health
workers [OR=6. 76(3.17-14.42)], partner having non-supportive attitude towards FP
[OR=3.34(1.26-8.90)] and who had rural residence [OR=17.65(4.35-71.67)] were significantly
associated with unmet need for family planning. The main reasons explained by non users were
32.9% less perceived risk of pregnancy due to breast feeding, 31.8%fear of side effects, 23.5%
partner opposition and 11.8% religious prohibition.
Conclusion and recommendation
Even though proportion of unmet need is low in the study area compared to national and
regional prevalence, it is also high since FP is basic right for women. So, Health care providers
should properly counsel women who are breast feeding to aware well pregnancy may occur
during post-partum amenorrhea.
Key words:-unmet need limiting, spacing