Factors Associated with the Utilisation of Family Planning Services among Women of Reproductive Age (15-49 Years) Attending Hoima Regional Referral Hospital

Family planning is defined as the ability for individuals and couples to attain their desired number of children and plan the spacing and timing of their births through the use of contraceptive methods. Promoting family is one of the main targets to reach the SDGs, and timely achievement of family planning targets is expected to accelerate achievement across the 5 SDG themes of people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. Despite the enormous benefits of family planning services, the uptake of the service remains low Uganda. This has resulted in high rates of unwanted pregnancies, unplanned deliveries, unsafe abortions, and maternal mortalities in Uganda. Several factors play an important role in the use of contraceptives among women of childbearing age. The identification of these factors is crucial to the planning and implementation of a suitable family planning programme. The study was designed to determine the factors associated with the utilisation of family planning among women of reproductive age (15–49) attending Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Western Uganda. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were utilised to collect data from 251 participants. From the results of the study majority, 182(72.5%) had never used family planning services and 68 (27.5%) had ever used family planning services. Therefore, the level of utilizing family planning services was found to be 27.5%. Thus, the level of utilisation of family planning services among women of reproductive age (15–49) attending Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Western Uganda, was low, which is significantly associated with the education level and perceived skills of health workers. There is a need to promote and effectively implement policies in support of girls’ education to increase FP service utilisation. Keywords: Family Planning, Women, SDGs, Contraceptives, HIV/AIDS