Women empowerment and modern contraceptive use among married women in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Chimamaka Uzochukwu, University of Ibadan
Fawole Olufunmilayo, University of Ibadan
Stephen Adebowale, University of Ibadan

Nigeria is a male dominant society where most of the household decisions including those that are related to their female partner’s health are taken by men. We examined the relationship between women empowerment and Modern Contraceptives (MC) use in Ibadan, Nigeria where such studies is yet to be fully documented. Cross-sectional design survey including both qualitative and quantitative was used to examine 597 women from two selected LGAs in Ibadan. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and logistic regression models (alpha=0.05). Mean age of the women was 33.0±6.7 years, 32.2.0% was highly empowered, 69.5% used MC and 44.4% had secondary education. Injectable (35.1%) was the reported commonest MC method currently used. There was an increase in use of MC as the level of empowerment increased, educational level was found to be more protective even after controlling for other factors. Empowering women through education will promote the use of MC in Nigeria.