CHAPTER ONE
1.0    INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF STUDY
        Family planning implies the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children by spacing and timing their births. It is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility. The availability of family planning does more than enable women and men to limit family seize. It safeguards individual health and rights, and improves the quality of life of couples and their children.
    Umbeli T, Mukhtar A, Abusalab M (2001). Family planning is an important strategy in promoting maternal and child health. It improves health through adequate spacing of births and avoiding pregnancy of high risk maternal ages and parities.
    The most important proximate determinant of fertility is the use of family planning. Where contraceptive use is widespread fertility is low. Rajaretnam has demonstated that even if there is no reduction in the family size of individual couples, delaying child bearing will bring about a decline in fertility and population growth rate. Lack of adequate information and ignorance are key factors militating against family planning practice in Nigeria. Many potential informational barriers exist to contraceptive use. (Rajaretnam, T. 1990). Adinma J.I.M, Nwosu B.O (2005), women must be aware of the methods available, must know where supplies of these methods can be obtained and they must know how to use the method they choose. Each year an estimated 5,00,000 women die of complication due to pregnancy, child bearing or unsafe abortion.
    In some areas of Nigeria, one in five women report having experienced an unwanted conception, of these 58% had an abortion and on additional 9% attempted unsuccessfully to end the pregnancy. It is estimated that about 25% of women who have abortion in Nigeria experience serious complications.
    Adoption of family planning measures will reduced unwanted pregnancies and criminal abortions to it barest minimum. Pregnancy is the reproductive age group die at a higher rate than men. Most materials deaths occur among poor women who live in remote rural areas and have difficult access to hospital. (federal office of statistic 1992).
    Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with more than 88million people, it also has a high annual rate of population growth (3.5%) and a total fertility rate of 6.0 lifetime births per women. Additionally, the country has relatively high levels of infant mortality (104 infan deaths per 1,000 live births) and maternal mortality (800 materials death per 100,000 live births). (USAID ODA)
    In response to these and other serious demographic and health issue, the Nigerian government put into effect a national population policy in 1989 that called for a reduction in the birthrate through voluntary fertility regulation methods compatible with the nation’s economic and social goals. (Federal Government of Nigeria, 1988). Promoting sexual responsibility substantially increased requests for contraceptive information among adolescents. Other studies have shown that exposure to a mass media family planning campaign increases contraceptive use.
    Several studies have reported change in Nigerians knowledge of and attitudes toward family planning. Theses studies, however, did not examine the association between attitude toward contraception and its use. In the 1981- 1982 Nigerian fertility survey, only 34% of all women reported that they had heard of any family planning method.
    By 1990, when the Nigerian Demographic and health survey was conducted, the proportion of women who knew of any contraceptive methods had increased by about one- third, to 46%, and the proportion of women who knew of specific methods also had grown.
Furthermore, 41% of married women who knew of a contraceptive metho9d had discussed family planning with their husbands. Family planning affect contraceptive use?. The answer will help policymakers and program planners determine what issue need to be stressed in the design of future family planning awareness campaigns in Nigeria.
In the light of the above, this study was designed to assess the awareness of family planning amongst antenatal patients of federal medical centre, Owo, Ondo state, Nigeria.