Willingness to use female permanent contraception among married women and male partners´ support in Benue, Nigeria.

Introduction: there is a paucity of community-based studies on the acceptability of female permanent contraception (FPC), particularly among men. We examined the willingness of married women to use FPC and their male partners to support its use in Nigeria.

Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study among pregnant women and their male partners who participated in the Healthy Beginning Initiative (HBI) program in Benue, Nigeria. The HBI was an integrated, feasible, and culturally adaptive platform for screening, linkage, and follow-up of pregnant women attending churches. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive intentions were collected from 10,168 pregnant women and 6,766 male partners independently through pre-tested semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to examine factors associated with the willingness to use FPC among women and male partners to support the use of FPC. Our analysis was restricted to married participants.

Results: of the 10,046 married women and 6,759 men included in this study, 80% and 87% indicated willingness to use and support the use of FPC, respectively. In the adjusted model, women with no formal, primary, and secondary education (vs tertiary education) and those with an income level of ≤ ₦20,000 (vs > ₦50,001) had significantly higher odds of willingness to use FPC, while women with no living children (vs ≥ 5) and 0-2 desired children (vs ≥ 5) had significantly lower odds of intending to use FPC. Except for no formal education and the number of living children, similar factors were associated with the willingness of married men to support the use of FPC.

Conclusion: there was a high willingness to use or support the use of FPC among married women and men in this study. Increasing access to FPC services in this setting may improve its informed and voluntary uptake.