SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN RURAL AREAS OF AKWA IBOM STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The institution of marriage is as old as the creation of man. According to Munroe (2003) marriage is a religious duty and is consequently a moral safeguard as well as a social necessity. It depends on many different things to be successful; trust, love, time, friendship, understanding, honesty, loyalty, sincerity and above all effective communication. Communication is the life-wire of marriage relationship or any meaningful relationship (Esere, 2002; 2006). It is the elixir for ailing marital relationship (Olagunju and Eneniyi, 2002). It is also the key to a successful marriage (Jolin, 2007).
Communication is conceived as a process in which people share information, ideas and feelings which involves not only the spoken and written word but also body language, personal mannerism and style (Hybels and Weaver, 2001). It is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing or complex signs. It is the way humans create and share meaning, both verbally and non-verbally (Olson and Defrain, 2000). According to Axxin and Barber (2001), it can be referred to as the process used by people to create and manage relationships. In fact the ability and willingness to communicate have been found to be among the most important factors in maintaining a satisfying relationship.
Interaction between spouses is of great importance and interest as many studies have observed that contraceptive use vary considerably between couples who reported discussionrelative to those who did not. Although demographic studies on fertility historically focused on women, researchers of fertility behaviour are recognizing increasingly that decisions regardingchild bearing do not lie exclusively with women but rather on both spouses (Cynthia, 2011).
The importance of spousal communication is often emphasized in family planning programmes and research. In some analysts view, it is the first step in a rational fertility decision making process. Thus, communication intervention programmes have been developed and implemented to encourage couples to talk about the number of children to have, birth spacing and contraceptive use, but spousal communication concerning contraception remains low especially in developing countries.
A contraceptive could be defined as a device, drug or chemical agent that prevents conception. Lack of communication about contraceptive use and family planning may be associated with misconceptions about a spouse’s view of family planning which in turn may inhibit mutual decision making. Men and women who do not communicate with their spouse about family planning may not be aware that their spouses view contraceptive use positively (Biddlecome and fapohuna,1998). Thus in settings where contraceptive use is a sensitive issue and overt spousal communication is uncommon, men and women perceive such exchange differently and these perceptions guide their negotiation strategies with their partners (Kamal, 1999).Other factors that may inhibit spousal communication could be household crowding fatalism and perceived worthlessness of such discussions, dominance of other relatives (such as mother-in-law) in reproductive decisions and embarrassment about discussing contraceptive usage (Blanc,1996).
The population of any society depends primarily on the territory or physical environment for sustenance, but unfortunately, while population increases overtime, the land masses of which this population depends on for sustenance are relatively fixed. This results in food shortage, poverty, scarcity of land, hunger and environment degradation, political and social instability. About 70% of Nigeria’s population live and work in the rural areas with a very high fertility rate. High fertility has a negative impact on the health status of mothers, infants and children and contributes to the high morbidity and mortality situation in the country. The introduction and acceptance of modern birth control are of great importance in controlling the population growth in these areas as the rate of usage of contraceptives in these areas is relatively low (Asa and Daniel,2015).
Socio-demographic factors such as education, occupation, income have been shown to be significantly associated with contraceptive use (Gubbaju, 2009; Axxin 1993, Axxin and Barber, 2001). Also socio-psychological factors like knowledge of varieties of modern contraceptives, perceived consequences of contraceptive have been highly associated with contraceptive attitude of married couples. In a national assessment of reproductive health needs, it was reported that even among women with a fairly broad knowledge of contraceptive methods, many gave fear of spousal disapproval as the reason for non-use. While empowering spouses is undoubtedly important for using contraceptives, in a traditional or rural area, it is unclear yet what type of communication is more crucial for taking a decision in the selection of appropriate technology. Understanding the role of communication is crucial to this process because of the centrality of communication in contexts in which gender power differences about sexual and reproductive health matters are extremely salient.
SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN RURAL AREAS OF AKWA IBOM STATE
