An Investigation of Traditional Family Planning methods used by women in the Bamenda Municipality, Cameroon

Abstract

Introduction: Women in most sub-Saharan countries bear children at younger ages, have larger families, and make much less use of family planning. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest rate of contraceptive use in the world. There are both modern and traditional methods of Family planning. Throughout history, the traditional family planning practices used to space children have been rich and varied.

Purpose: This work sets out to investigate the diverse traditional family planning methods used by women in the Bamenda Municipality and the determinants of their choices.

Methods: A mix of descriptive and exploratory research designs were used. The purposive sampling technique was used to identify 100, participants residing in Bamenda Municipality who were married/cohabiting, aged 21-49 years, and whose last child was ≤ 5 years old. The multinomial logit model, chi-square, frequencies, percentages, and charts were used for the analysis. An interview administered questionnaire was administered to women of childbearing age who were not on any modern contraceptive method.

Findings: Results showed that the local family planning methods used by women in the Bamenda Municipality were; withdrawal, lactational, calendar, cervical mucus, and douches methods. Other locally used products presumed by these women to help prevent conception were; bicarbonate, honey, thyme,  parsley, herbs, lemon, cola drink, alakata pepper, alcohol, hot water, salt, vinegar, and whisky. Results further showed that age, age at first marriage, number of children, and the fear of side effects all significantly influenced women's choice of withdrawal and calendar method over other methods of family planning.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that, the most frequently used traditional contraceptive method by women in the Bamenda Municipality are; calendar (70%), withdrawal (58%), and lactational method(45%) whose choices over other methods especially over modern methods was mostly due to the fear of side effects of the modern method. It is recommended further research be carried out to investigate and establish the efficacy of the common products used by these women.