CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
          Family planning as the name implies is having children by choice and not by chance; it is the process of having specific number of children at intervals acceptable by individuals or couples, to promote the health and welfare of the family.  Family planning is not a new idea all over the world and also applies to Egor Local Government Area of Edo State.  Throughout the ages, individuals and families have tried to regulate their fertility either by using herbs, abstinence during ovulation, prolonged breast feeding and living with parent in-laws to avoid sex or polygamy.
          Historically, most communities in the past used to have policies that encourage large population.  Traditionally, in Africa, the low level of economic development and heavy reliance on agriculture have brought about several factors that encourage high fertility.  In addition, according to Namboze J.M.E. (1985), religious and cultural traditions favour large families because children are expected to help their parents financially and to ensure a kind of family immortality by continuity of the family name.
          African women traditionally have played major roles in agricultural production, though their primary roles are that of wives and mothers having limited right as subordinates to the males in the household.  The status of women is further eroded by the practice of polygamy because they have limited opportunities.  At the societal level, child bearing is therefore an important way for them to gain status through the number of children raised.
          Children are also needed for labour in the farm and a potential old age security which they provide in later life, especially for their mothers because women are often denied inheritance right or forfeit right to use land upon death of husband; and they need children especially sons to ensure that someone cares for them in their old age.  Also, a man’s health and integrity are often determined by the number of wives and children he has and since the African religion was highly practiced, it was believed that ancestors are expected to reincarnate through childbirth as descendents.
          Women have come to see that cooking, house keeping chores combined with making a living, bearing and raising children are arduous tasks and gradually retards the health of both mother and children.  Today, many parents have realized that having a large family may bring difficulty in feeding, clothing and providing good education for them all.  In 1956, family planning was introduced by a body of elites in Lagos due to the alarming rate of abandoned children resulting from teenage pregnancy, criminal abortions and death.  This group of elite formed a body known as the marriage guidance counselors which later liaised with the international Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN).
          In 1958, Dr. Adeyemi Jones started the first family planning clinic in Ibadan but it did not last due to lack of funds.  In 1959, the Family Planning Council of Nigeria was formed while later it became the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN).  Since the vastness of child bearing has gradually led to population explosion, many individuals and organizations have complained and said that parents should cut down their family size and have made family planning an issue of moral, social and political considerations.  Such agencies include the International Planned Parenthood Association, the Pathfinder Fund, International Training for Health Programme, World Health Organization, etc.