Socio-Demographic Factors, Contraceptive Use and Fertility Preference among Married Women in South- South Region of Nigeria

Nigeria is among a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa with consistently low contraceptive use of 15% among married women whose average fertility rate is 5.5 from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report. The [21], report showed that while fertility rate of 5.5 in 2013 was a slight drop from previous years of 5.7 in 2003 and 2008, contraceptive use has experienced only a gradual increase of 2% from 2003 figures. This study examines the relationships between sociodemographic factors influencing contraceptive use of married women and how this affects their fertility preferences now and in the future. The study used the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey [21] data sets. Analysis employed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analytical techniques. Results show that some women background factors like state of residence, education, wealth index, and number of other wives have both direct and indirect relationship with contraceptive use. The odds that women used contraceptive method increased significantly by level of education, wealth status, and number of living children, and the odds varied significantly by state of residence, number of other wives, and fertility preference. Effective programming focused on contraceptive increase will need to consider state variations, educational levels, and wealth differences across sub-groups in this region. Other important factors that should be factored into programming are number of co-wives, number of living children per woman, and whether women are favorable or not to having another child