FACTORS INFLUENCING FAMILY PLANNING CHOICE AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING INFANT WELFARE CLINIC AT IBRAHIM TAIWO PRIMARY HEALTH CENTER OGBOMOSO, OYO STATE.

Family planning is very important as it enables individual and couples to anticipate and achieve their desired number of children as well as the spacing and timing of their births. This is achieve through the use of contraceptives. The choice made by individual mothers are influenced by various factors including religious factor, age, effectiveness, pressure from spouse, cultural norms, level of education and cost. This study was therefore conducted to assess the factors influencing family planning choice among the mothers attending infant welfare clinic at Ibrahim Taiwo Primary Health Centre, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.. A descriptive cross sectional study was adopted and mothers were selected using non-probability sampling techniques in which purposive sampling method was used, that is, available subject at the time of data collection. A closed ended questionnaires were used to collect data. The data collected was analysed using tables and percentage and T-test was used to test for association between variables and level of significant was set at 5% (0.05). The results revealed that 94.4% of the mothers were aware of family planning practices through friends (20%), mass media (6%) and health personnel (73.3%). 84.6% of the mothers are currently using the modern method of family planning with 30.9% on implants, 6.2% on IUCD, 45.4% using injectables and 2.1% using barrier method while others (15.4%) uses the natural methods of family planning, the major factor influencing their choice include Religious beliefs 82%, counsel by health professional 84%, educational level 68%, side effects 78%, age 86%, cost 76%, number of living children 74% marital status 74%, advice from friends 62% and cultural beliefs 74%. Two null hypothesis were tested using T-test at 0.05 level of significance which revealed that there is a significant association between level of education and age and choice of family planning. Recommendations were given. There is a need for nurses to identify appropriate means of disseminating information because people need to be well informed about family planning, especially, the adoption and utilization of the modern contraceptives. Keywords: Factors, Family Planning, Infant Welfare Clinic Word Count: 335 Words