Enhancing fertility preference through contraception in Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Abstract

The paper assesses the contribution of contraceptives in achieving fertility preference in parity progression. The study employed mixed research methods in data collection for triangulation purposes. To achieve the intended goal, the study collected the primary and the secondary data. On the one hand, a household survey was administered to 286 male and female respondents; on the other hand, the qualitative data were collected from 67 respondents through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The findings revealed that the majority (88.1%) of respondents used contraceptives to achieve fertility preference. The findings also show that out of 252(88%) respondents who reported having ever used contraceptives only 190(75.4%) were still using contraceptives. The rest 62 (24.6%) reported that they stopped using contraceptives due to the need for children and fear of side effects. Both modern and traditional contraceptives played a central role in helping couples and noncouples to achieve fertility preference. Therefore, couples and noncouples need to use contraceptives properly to meet their desired fertility preference.