Relationship between women's attitude of family planning and parity in primary

ABSTRACT Aim Family planning (FP) ; is an important health service that prevents both unwanted pregnancies and excessive fertility, positively contributing to maternal and child health and thus plays a role in raising the level of health of the community. FP allows couples to have as many children as they want, the couple wants them, and the breeder to be in good health. Women's attitudes towards family planning affect fertility behavior. For this reason, it is important to understand women's attitudes towards family planning in order to reduce population growth. Method Cross-sectional analytical study was carried out at University Family Health Center (FHC). The study included 460 women aged between 15 and 49 who were married or had partnered. We collected data by a questionnaire where socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics included and also used "Family Planning Attitude Scale" (FPAS) developed by Orsal O. FPAS has three sub-dimensions: society attitude towards FP (SAFP), attitude towards contraceptive methods (ACM) and attitude towards gestation (AG). A higher score on the scale means positive FP behavior. Descriptive analyses, t test, chi square and correlation analysis were performed in the data analysis. Results The mean age of participants was 32,67 ± 7,691, the mean age of marriage was 20,67 ± 4,177. 18.3% of the participants were not literate, 37.4% were primary school graduates and 79.1% were housewife. The mean number of pregnancies was 2.88 ± 1.84, mean number of live births was 2.2 ± 1.5, mean number of stillbirths was 0.07 ± 0.29, the mean number of abortion was 0,42 ± 0,83, the mean number of curettage was 0,11 ± 0,43 and the mean number of living children is 2,23 ± 1,46. The proportion of those who have four or more gestations is 31.1%, and the proportion of those who have three or more children is 37%. FP method knowledge status 99.3%. Known methods are condom 90.8%, withdrawal 90.2%, pill 89.3% respectively. FP method use rate is 80%. The methods used are 35.3% withdrawal, 28% condom, 22.3% ria, 9% pills, 7.1% tube ligation, 3.8% injections. According to the FP method discontinuation status, 43.4% ria, 40% condom, 53.6% withdrawal. According to the planning status of the last pregnancy, 31.6% planned and 68.4% unplanned.48.7 % of the participants plan to have children and immediately think of 30.4% of them. The mean FPAS scores of the participants were 117,35 ± 16,19, mean SAFP scores were 54,34 ± 9,25, mean ACM scores were 35,73 ± 5,96, mean AG scores were 28.28 ± 4.59. There was a negative relationship between participants' educational status and working status and fertility level. As the number of pregnancies (r = -0.212, p <0.001) and the number of living children (r =- 0.228, p<0.001) increased, FPAS scores decreased. As the number of pregnancies and number of living children of women increased, the SAFP score and the AG score decreased (p <0.01). Conclusion As family planning attitude scores decrease, the parity of women increases. It has been determined that the attitudes of women towards FP are positive, but not at the desired level. When evaluating the sub scales of attitude, it was determined that the worst attitude scores were "attitude towards contraceptive methods". Key words: Attitude, family planning, birth control, family planning methods