Family planning KAP survey in the Southern Region of Saudi Arabia

Background: Family planning practices could be determined through adopting proper knowledge and positive couple attitudes towards the use of family planning which would most likely result in favourable family decisions which would benefitted both the individual and the overall country welfare.Methods: A cross sectional study has been conducted using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interview to a convenient sample of 151 pregnant women attending the obstetrics and gynaecology outpatient clinic at the Armed Forces Hospital in the southern region of Saudi Arabia in December 2014.Results: The results revealed that modern methods were popular among women. In general we found positive attitudes towards family planning among the sampled women as two third of the women have ever used contraceptives. However, the present study showed that 34% of women had unmet need of family planning. Women’s age, marriage years and number of children were all found to be associated factors with unmet need.Conclusions: National organized family planning programs might help satisfying the family planning needs for the families. Further studies regarding southern men’s knowledge and attitudes towards family planning is recommended.

Factors associated with wife beating in Egypt: Analysis of two surveys (1995 and 2005)

Akmatov MK, Mikolajczyk RT, Labeeb S, Dhaher E, Khan MMH. Factors associated with wife beating in Egypt: Analysis of two surveys (1995 and 2005). BMC Women´s Health. 2008;8(1): 15.BACKGROUND: Wife beating is an important public health problem in many developing countries. We assessed the rates of wife beating and examined factors associated with wife beating in 1995 and 2005 in Egypt. METHODS: We used data from two Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Egypt in 1995 and 2005 using multistage household sampling. Data related to wife beating included information from 7122 women in 1995 and 5612 women in 2005. Logistic regression was used to analyze factors independently associated with wife beating. Special weights were used to obtain nationally representative estimates. RESULTS: In 1995 17.5% of married women in Egypt experienced wife beating in the last 12 months, in 2005--18.9% or 16.0%, using different measures. The association between socio-demographic differentials and wife beating was weaker in the newer survey. The 12-month prevalence of wife beating was lower only when both partners were educated, but the differences across education levels were less pronounced in 2005. Based on the information available in the 2005 survey, more educated women experienced less severe forms of wife beating than less educated women. CONCLUSION: Different measures used in both surveys make a direct comparison difficult. The observed patterns indicate that the changes in prevalence may be masked by two opposite processes occurring in the society: a decrease in (severe forms of) wife beating and an increase in reporting of wife beating. Improving the access to education for women and raising education levels in the whole society may help reducing wife beating

Factors associated with lack of postnatal care among Palestinian women: A cross-sectional study of three clinics in the West Bank

Dhaher E, Mikolajczyk RT, Maxwell AE, Krämer A. Factors associated with lack of postnatal care among Palestinian women: a cross-sectional study of three clinics in the West Bank. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2008;8(1): 26.Background: Only about one-third of women in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) obtain postpartum care. Therefore, the goal of this study was to assess factors associated with lack of postnatal care, women's reasons for not obtaining postnatal care, and their attitudes towards its importance. Methods: In early 2006, a cross-sectional survey was conducted at three clinics run by the Ministry of Health providing Mother and Child Health Care in West Bank, Palestine. A total of 264 postpartum women attending the clinics were interviewed face-to-face, using a structured questionnaire. Results: Although the majority of women considered postnatal care necessary (66.1%), only 36.6% of women obtained postnatal care. The most frequent reason for not obtaining postnatal care was that women did not feel sick and therefore did not need postnatal care (85%), followed by not having been told by their doctor to come back for postnatal care (15.5%). Based on a multivariable analysis, use of postnatal care was higher among women who had experienced problems during their delivery, had a cesarean section, or had an instrumental vaginal delivery than among women who had a spontaneous vaginal delivery. Use of postnatal care was also higher among women who delivered in a private hospital as compared to those who delivered in a public hospital. In addition, we found regional differences. Conclusion: The higher use of postnatal care among high-risk women is appropriate, but some clinically dangerous conditions can also occur in low-risk women. Future efforts should therefore focus on providing postnatal care to a larger number of low-risk women

Reproductive health human rights : women's knowledge, attitude, and practices toward their reproductive health rights in Palestine

Dhaher E. Reproductive health human rights : women's knowledge, attitude, and practices toward their reproductive health rights in Palestine. Bielefeld (Germany): Bielefeld University; 2008.Reproductive health rights ensure that people are able to have satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capacity to reproduce with freedom to decide, when and how often to do so. Reproductive health rights also include the access of women to high quality health care services that help in protecting women during pregnancy and childbearing and providing the couples with the best chances of having healthy. In addition, reproductive health rights might be an important indicator for women's health. Studies that were conducted in Palestine before had not focused on assessing women's perception on their reproductive health rights while receiving the health care. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to assess knowledge, perception, attitude, and practices of reproductive health rights among the Palestinian women of reproductive age (15-49). Specifically, the objective was to assess women's perception of their reproductive health rights while receiving their reproductive health care (in particular: reproductive health rights concepts and meaning, family planning, antenatal care, delivery care and postnatal care). In addition, the present study aimed to assess women's perception towards wife beating and the best marriage age for women. In order to achieve this purpose, a cross sectional study was conducted in 2006 at three clinics that provide Mother and Child Health Care in the West Bank. The clinics were located in the three largest cities in the West Bank: Jenin in the north, Ramallah in the center, and Hebron in the south. A total of 450 women (150 women in each site) in reproductive age (15-49) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed several issues related to reproductive health such as: understanding of reproductive rights, knowledge and use of family planning methods, antenatal care, delivery care, postnatal care, attitudes towards domestic violence and age at first marriage. Response rate of the study was 99.4 percent. Generally, the results of this study revealed that women had positive understanding of their reproductive health rights. Women mentioned the right to have good access to health care during and after the course of pregnancy as their first important right. The majority of women were able to identify the modern contraceptives and most women mentioned that they made the fertility decision together with their husbands. Women started antenatal care at a relatively early stage of their pregnancy (before 4-month pregnancy), and 78.2 percent of women made six or more antenatal care visits during their entire pregnancy. Almost all women delivered their last child in medical institutions and under medical supervision. Women were most likely more satisfied from the private health facilities than from the governmental facilities. Although the majority of women considered postnatal care necessary (66.1 percent), only 36.6 percent of women obtained postnatal care. Sixty-five percent of women agreed with at least one reason for wife beating. The mean age of first marriage among the 450 women was 20 years old and the median was 19, while half of the women perceived the best age of their daughter's marriage between 17 and 20 years old. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to consider these results when planning for any women's health programs and projects. In order to improve health care services based on women's needs and priorities, we also recommend setting new policies and regulations that protect women against violence and organizing public education programs to change women's perception towards intimate partner violence and age at first marriage. Empowering women through education and open employment opportunity might help women in making decisions regarding their fertility and taking an active role when they experience any reproductive health rights violation. Future research should expand to include Gaza Strip and to include men, adolescent, health care providers, health policy makers and key law and religious leaders

Attitudes Toward Wife Beating Among Palestinian Women of Reproductive Age From Three Cities in West Bank

Dhaher EA, Mikolajczyk RT, Maxwell AE, Krämer A. Attitudes Toward Wife Beating Among Palestinian Women of Reproductive Age From Three Cities in West Bank. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2010;25(3):518-537.A total of 450 women were interviewed in Mother and Child Health Care Centers in three cities in West Bank, Palestine, to assess attitudes toward wife beating. Overall, women perceived wife beating to be justified if a wife insults her husband (59%), if she disobeys her husband (49%), if she neglects her children (37%), if she goes out without telling her husband (25%), if she argues with her husband (11%), and if she burns the food (5%). Sixty-five percent of women agreed with at least one reason for wife beating, but there were statistically significant regional differences: Wife beating was most accepted in Jenin (73% acceptance of at least one reason) and least accepted in Hebron (55%). Lower level of education, not being employed, having more than one child, being married for fewer than 10 years, and making few household decisions were all associated with women's acceptance of wife beating. The implications of these results are discussed