Factors Affecting Family Planning Literacy: Perspectives of Women of Childbearing Age in Rural Lake Zone, Tanzania

Background: Low uptake of various recommended modern family planning methods is associated with inadequate family planning literacy among potential beneficiaries of the methods. As such, understanding the factors affecting family planning literacy is key to addressing this problem. This study, therefore, explored factors affecting family planning literacy of women of childbearing age in the rural Lake Zone of Tanzania. Methods: The study utilized an exploratory descriptive qualitative research approach using focus group discussions to collect data. A total of eight focus group discussion sessions were held to solicit information from women of childbearing age involved in the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the respondents. Results: Inadequate family planning literacy has been found among women of childbearing age in the studied communities. Socio-demographic factors such as education level, religious affiliation, and family income have been found to negatively affect the family planning literacy of the women in this study. Other factors such as fertility preference, negative perceptions about family planning, preference of unproven traditional family planning methods, limited access to reliable sources of information, household responsibilities, and poor male partner support were also found to affect women’s family planning literacy. Conclusion: Inadequate family planning literacy among women of childbearing age reduces the women’s chances of obtaining relevant family planning information as well as limiting their abilities to process and understand the information so as to be able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. Therefore, addressing factors affecting family planning literacy of the women is imperative in increasing their overall uptake of various recommended modern family planning methods.