Social and Demographic Contexts of Postpartum Family Planning and Desired Family Size among Men in Delta State, Nigeria

Kennedy Eborka, University of Lagos
Eno Akarawak, Department of Mathematics, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos
Ebele Chibuzo, Department of Sociology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos

This study explored the social and demographic contexts of adoption of family planning methods by men during their wives’ postpartum and desired fertility. The study involved a cross-sectional survey among 800 respondents in Delta State, Nigeria. Somer’s delta, t-test and logistic regression were adopted for analysis. Age at marriage was not related to men’s use of contraceptives during wives’ postpartum. Men who have visited family planning clinic were 0.303 more likely to use contraceptives than those who have not. Urban men were 0.614 times more likely to support their wives than their rural counterparts. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between number of children in a man’s family of birth and desired family size with d=0.186, p<0.05. Among others, it was recommended that family planning clinics for male be established across the states, and the optimum number of four children in the National Population Policy be extended to men.