Husband-wife communication about family planning in Assosa Town (Ethiopia)

A cross sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative approaches was carried out in Assosa Town, Ethiopia (2001-2002) to investigate what proportion of couples were discussing about family planning, if there was any association between husband wife communication and contraception, and couple’ s opinion about the subject. Among the 264 couples interviewed 10% had never heard about family planning. Among those who had heard about family planning in 98% of couples both wife and husband knew at least one modern method of contraception and approved of family planning. In 82% of couples one or both partners reported having discussed family planning with their partner in the past year. 67% of couples were using contraception at the time of interview. Multiple logistic regression showed that wife’s perception of her husband’s approval of family planning and discussion about family planning were significantly associated with contraceptive use. Men and women tended to realize the economic disadvantage of having many children. Women believed that husband has a dominant role in the family and makes decisions regarding most family matters including family planning. However, they thought that husbands are being changed in relation to fertility issues which they equated with the economic pressure. The implications of the study results are discussed