Background There are many different types of contraception, but not all types are appropriate for all situations. Ensuring access for all people to their preferred contraceptive methods advances several human rights including the right to life and liberty, freedom of opinion, expression and choice and the right to work and education, as well as bringing significant health and other benefits. Use of contraception advances the human right of people to determine the number and spacing of their children. Objectives To explore Middle Eastern women’s attitudes toward family planning methods. To identify the actual practices of women in using family planning methods. To examine the relationship between women’s attitudes and their practices regarding family planning. Methodology A cross sectional study was conducted at six Arabic countries from January 2024 to July 2024. The participants were women in reproductive age, they are urban residency, primiparous and multiparous mothers. A non-probability (purposive sample) consist of (198) reproductive age women. The study instrument was a predesigned, structured, and self-administered questionnaire that had been previously validated and used in the study titled “Evaluation of Women’s Attitudes about Contraceptive Methods Use at Primary Health Care Centers in Baghdad City.” The questionnaire consisted of two main sections. The first section collected demographic data, including age, marital status, number of children, educational level, and employment status. The second section contained a series of closed-ended and Likert-scale questions aimed at assessing women’s attitudes toward family planning methods as well as their actual practices and patterns of use. Participants were informed about the objectives of the study and provided with clear instructions on how to complete the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using R version 4.4.3, and the results were summarized in tables and Figures. Results Women are with average age of 32.23±7.9 years in which the highest percentage is seen with age group of 30-39 (40.4%). women have high affective attitudes to use family planning methods (total grand mean= 2.60); have high behavioral attitudes to use family planning methods (total grand mean= 2.56); and have high cognitive attitudes to use family planning methods (total grand mean= 2.56). So, the mean scores indicate high among most of affective, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes. Conclusions The findings of the study revealed that the majority of participating women held positive attitudes toward family planning methods. Furthermore, most of the women reported actively using some form of contraception. These results highlight a generally favorable perception and widespread acceptance of family planning practices among Middle Eastern women, reflecting both awareness and practical engagement in reproductive health decisions.
Hawraa Hussein Ghafel (Wed,) studied this question.