Family Planning Knowledge and Practices among Women in a District Hospital of Nepal

Introduction: Family planning services have the potential to improve the quality of the lives of people. The study was done to assess the family planning practice and methods among the married women of reproductive age attending female clinic of district hospital of Nepal. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study carried out from October 2011 till December 2011 at Lamjung district hospital. One hundred randomly selected married women of 15-49 years, who had at least one child were the subjects of the study. A structured questionnaire on knowledge, practice and methods of use of contraception was composed and fi lled up. Results: The results were encouraging with 94 (94%) of participants having knowledge about contraception. The study showed that 32 (32%) of the married women belonged to 20-24 years of age group. Among them 64 (68%) were using modern contraception methods. Injectables hormonal contraceptives were most commonly practiced by 34 (54%) women. Among not using any contraceptives, 18 (60%) of them said their husband being abroad. Conclusions: Family planning knowledge and practice among the rural women utilizing the service was appreciable. Temporary method of contraception was most commonly practiced. Keywords: district hospital; knowledge; practice, family planning