Jordanian Women's Experiences With the Use of Traditional Family Planning

Abstract

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Ministry of Health (MOH) have identified the importance of strengthening national capacity through the integration of reproductive health (RH) services into the primary health care system. It is reported that a high percentage of Jordanian women use traditional family planning (TFP) methods, frequently using them incorrectly. Our purpose in this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the issues and challenges related to the use of TFP among Jordanian women. Six focus groups with women of childbearing age (18-44 years of age; n = 51) were held in the northern, central, and southern regions of Jordan. Study participants used traditional methods such as withdrawal, periodic abstinence, and breastfeeding. Often TFP methods were used incorrectly, resulting in a high failure rate with unplanned pregnancies occurring within short inter pregnancy intervals. Women preferred using TFP because of side effects experienced while using modern family planning (MFP) methods, misconceptions, and lack of correct information about MFP methods. Husbands often declined to use condoms but supported the use of TFP methods. Women indicated that they have unmet needs for family planning and that they would consider using MFP methods if accurate information was available at health centers. They emphasized the importance of competent and knowledgeable health care providers (HCPs) who contribute to decision making regarding use of family planning.

Missing Motherhood: Jordanian Women's Experiences with Infertility

“…For example, a 39-year-old mother of seven children noted, "Our prophet Mohammed said, 'Reproduce and have children as I am in the life after. I will be proud of you in front of the nations"' [20]. In another study, a Jordanian Muslim primipara said, "People start asking after the first month of marriage whether you "save anything inside your abdomen" meaning, "are you pregnant yet?"…”

Womens Needs Related to Family Planning: Meta-Synthesis

“…The adaptation corresponded to an increase in two questions about social-historical context and ethical aspects in domain [2,17]. In the criteria analysis, all studies explained the social-historical context, guide themes, identified set of categories and inductive character of analysis [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Eight studies reported about how participants were selected [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…In the criteria analysis, all studies explained the social-historical context, guide themes, identified set of categories and inductive character of analysis [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Eight studies reported about how participants were selected [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Six mentioned type of analysis [20,[22][23][24][25][26] and five notified how many researchers analyzed the data [20][21][22]25].…”

“…Three presented their theoretical-methodological foundations [21,25,26]. All studies did not provide any information on some criterion [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].We followed the guidance by Campbell, et al [14] and Sandelowski and Barroso [27] about the importance of performing a careful judgment to avoid the exclusion of precise and relevant studies on synthesis. Therefore, it was sought, rigorously, on the explanations and the amount of information contained in the publications [27][28][29].…”

Jordanian health care providers' perceptions of post‐partum health care

“…The study reported on the relatively low utilization of PPHC (60%) was related to lack of knowledge and perception of need related to available health care services. A recent study documented Jordanian women's experiences with the use of traditional family planning and identified the importance of competent and knowledgeable HCPs to help them make informed choices (Khalaf et al. 2008).…”