The Prevailing Concept about Family Planning in Mosul, Iraq

Abstract

The study interveiwed 1810 women representing two generations of mothers (grandmothers and younger mothers). Most of the studied families were Muslims (93.9%) and Arabs (83.7%). Proportion of mothers who beleived that fammily planning and contraceptives are benificial is raised by almost 50% (24.4% to 53.5% and 14.4% to 22.1% in order) between the two generations of mothers. Mis-interpretation of the words “family planning” and “contraceptives” was reported among 65.9% and 13.6% of grandmothers in comparison to 38.6% and 9.8% of younger mothers respectively. It seems that it follows the same trend of formal education. So, it is suggested to saw health education and train the health workers to explain medical terms.