PSYCHO-SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING UPTAKE OF FAMILY PLANNING PILLS AMONG WOMEN OF CHILD-BEARING AGE IN GENERAL HOSPITAL OFFA, KWARA STATE.

ABSTRACT Family planning has undergone a paradigm shift and emerged as one of the interventions to reduce maternal and infant mortalities and morbidities. It is well established that the states with high contraceptive prevalence rat e have lower maternal and infant mortalities. This study therefore, investigatedthefactorsthatmayinfluencetheacceptabilityandconsequentuseoffamilyplanningamong women of childbearing age in Maiduguri, Metropolis Borno State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive cross-sectional sample design. A sample size of 149 women of childbearing age attending familyplanningservicesdeliverypointsinonehospitalsandtwoprimaryhealthcarecentresinMaiduguri Metropolis,wasselectedforthestudy.Systematicrandomsamplingtechniquewasusedinchoosingthe respondentsthroughanonymousstructuredinterviewquestionnaire.Datawasanalyzedusingdescriptive statistics of frequency distribution tables and percentages. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents 34.9% in the age group of 26-33 actively were involved in family planning than other age group in the study areas. Respondents educational status was low only 29.5% had senior school certificate and 35.6% did not attend formal education, high 62.4% were married, 52.3% unemployed while 12.1% are employed, majority 62.4% were Muslims and 12.1% are Christians. Findings reveals respondent’sknowledge,accessibilityandavailabilityoffamilyplanningserviceand drugs/devices was significant 96.0%, 94.0% and 94.0% respectively. The study recommends that family planning choice and benefits as these ensure acceptance and utilization. KEYWORDS:Familyplanning,Childbearingage,Knowledge,AccessibilityandAvailability.