Interpersonal communication in family planning in Pakistan
Farooqui, M.N.
Pakistan Development Review 33(4 Pt 2): 677-684
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0030-9729 PMID: 12346201 Document Number: 499422
Husband-wife communication about family planning has been identified as the major source of motivation for contraceptive use in Pakistan. To learn more about the correlates of this form of interpersonal communication, data from the 1990-91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey were extracted and cross-tabulated. 22% of the 6393 currently married women surveyed had discussed family planning with their spouse (28.5% in urban areas and 15% in rural areas) and 33% had discussed family size decisions. Younger, more educated women with two, three, or four living children were most likely to have such discussions. The discussion rate was higher for women who desired no more children (35.7%) than those desiring additional children (12.7%). Women exposed to family planning messages on radio and television were also significantly more likely to discuss family planning with their spouse, but female employment status had no effect. Finally, husband's approval of family planning was associated with a three times greater likelihood that wives would initiate such dialogue. The Eighth Five-Year Plan of the Pakistan Family Planning Program emphasizes the facilitation of interpersonal communication as a strategy to increase contraceptive usage.