ISSN: 2167-0420
Khadar Omar, Solomon Gebretsadik*
Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of the mother on family planning attending antenatal care at MCH health facilities in Hargeisa, Somaliland.
Methods: The study was applied to an institutional cross-sectional study design to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers toward family planning. A simple random sampling technique was applied to select the subjects of this study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection purposes. The data were checked for completeness, cleaned, and coded, and entered into SPSS version 20 for analysis. A linear regression and chi-square analysis were performed to assess the association between variables with family planning practice. A p-value less than 0.05 were used to declare a statistically significant association. Finally, the result was presented using tables, charts, and graphs.
Results: The study showed that the good knowledge; attitude and practice of mothers toward family planning (FP) were 47.6%, 59.1% and 48.2%, respectively. The mean (±SD) scores were 18.8 (±2.67), 12.80(±4.60) and 28.10(±5.56) for knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively. The result showed a significant linear relationship between knowledge with attitude (R value = 0.046, t=2.632, P value = 0.009) and knowledge with practice (R value = 0.534, t=12.886, P-value=<0.001) The analysis shows a significant association between Number of year in Marriage (χ2 =6.266, d.f. =2, P-value=0.044), occupation of mother (χ2 =6.266, d.f. =2, P-value=0.011),and knowledge (χ2 =54.523, d.f.=1, P < 0.001) and good practice of mother FP. of the mother.
Conclusion: The study showed that the good knowledge, attitude and practice of the mother towards family planning (FP) were 47.6%, 59.1% and 48.2%, respectively. The mean (±SD) scores (SD) were 18.8 (±2.67), 12.80(±4.60) and 28.10(±5.56) for knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively. The result showed a significant linear relationship between knowledge and attitude and knowledge with practice. The analysis shows a significant association between the number of years of marriage, the occupation of the mother and the knowledge of the mother and the good practice of the mother FP. More studies should be done, especially using a mixed method approach.