Abstract:
Rapid population growth has been a serious problem in developing countries. This creates
shortage of cultivated land, unemployment, and speed up poverty. Ethiopia is one of the
countries which have faced this problem. Now a day, Ethiopia has a total fertility rate of 4.6
children per women. Tiro Afeta district’s current total fertility rate is 4.8 children per
women, a bit higher than the national value. Since the coming to power of the present
government, many attempts have been made to reduce fertility rate by introducing the Family
Planning and Contraception services. The study, therefore, was intended to know the view
points and practices of married couples on women’s fertility control and how that is
contributing to the usage of contraception in the district. Sixteen (16) interviews with married
couples (8 each sex), 8 interviews with health service providers and 6 focus group
discussions (three for husbands and thee for wives) in which 24 males and 23 females
participants were carried out. Selection of key informants was purposive with the aim of
obtaining knowledgeable, experienced and expressive individuals. This study site was chosen
because it has higher fertility rate of 4.8 children per women that is greater than the national
one. The study design of this research is phenomenological. Unstructured interview guides
were used for the interviews. The structuration theory was used in explaining the findings of
the study. The finding of the study reveals that there are six identified major obstacles
hindering women from using fertility control. These include: husband’s opposition to the use
of the method, fear of side effects, misinformation, influence of religion, significance of child
sex composition, gender norms and the importance of high fertility culture. The main factors
contributing to this is less education on modern contraceptive methods and the inability of
women to negotiate their husbands in order to adopt the methods effectively. Education was
seen as the major factor to be considered in improving contraceptive usage in the district.
The researcher recommends that contraceptive usage will improve if men are actively
involved in family planning.
