Family planning among a group of coloured women
Roux, A.
South African Medical Journal 65(22): 898-901
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0256-9574 PMID: 6729631 Document Number: 221796
Two-hundred-and-fifty Coloured women were interviewed at family planning and antenatal clinics in an effort to assess the type of person who practices family planning and to determine possible ways of reaching those who do not. The study shows a definite tendency towards the small family ideal and children are seen as an expense rather than as a source of income. Forty-two per cent of the sample had either never used family planning methods or had done so only after their third child was born. Sixty-seven per cent indicated lack of knowledge or fears resulting therefrom as the reason for delaying family planning. Of the antenatal patients interviewed, 69% said their pregnancies were unplanned. This seems to indicate the need for an intensified drive to educate and motivate people, especially teenagers, to plan their families.