Abstract

PIP: Attitudes toward family size and family planning in villages in pre-Saharan Maghreb were assessed through a questionnaire administered to 75 women 13-44 years of age and 40 men. The ksars in which the interviews were conducted were located in Arab Sebbah Ziz, a rural population area. Children are important in this region, both as a source of agricultural help and to care for their parents in old age. The total fertility rate in Morocco is 7.4. Among male respondents in this study, 36.5% wanted 10 or more children. Although female respondents expressed the belief that they had no control over family size, the largest proportion (37.5%) wanted 5-6 children and only 7.5% wanted 9-10 children. All the men in the ksar of Mengara had some awareness of the concept of family planning, but the women indicated a lack of knowledge. When family planning was explained to female respondents, the characteristic response was a reluctance to interfere with God's will. Even respondents who did not want more children expressed a reluctance to do anything active to prevent pregnancy. Women in the ksar of Okba displayed a more active interest in family planning, especially to prevent the adverse health effects caused by continuous childbearing. The main reason for not using family planning was fear of side effects. There was also awareness of the beneficial effects of birth spacing on child health. The Moroccan family planning program emphasizes the use of oral contraception; there appears to be marked resistance to the IUD. These findings indicate that mass media efforts and increased availability of family planning supplies are not sufficient measures to expand family planning acceptance. Women must learn what family planning involves, how it applies to their lives, the benefits and disadvantages of available methods before they can reach decisions about contraceptive usage. The causal relationship between numerous and frequent pregnancies and poor health must also be stressed. An approach focused on advantages to the health of the mother and the well-being of her children is most likely to convince rural women of the validity of family planning.