Ignorance could hurt: an assessment of fertility awareness, childbirth intentions and parenting attitudes among university students

Olumide Abiodun; Kamil Alausa; Olanrewaju Olasehinde

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2016-0091

Article

Ignorance could hurt: an assessment of fertility awareness, childbirth intentions and parenting attitudes among university students

Olumide Abiodun , Kamil Alausa and Olanrewaju Olasehinde

Published/Copyright: October 14, 2016

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 30 Issue 2

Abstract

Background:

An emerging pattern of increasing median age at first birth among women has been well documented in Western countries. A similar but less remarkable trend is being experienced in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a paucity of information in Sub-Saharan Africa about awareness of age-related fertility decline. The aim of this study was to assess the perception of fertility, childbirth intentions and parenting attitudes among university students.

Materials and methods:

A cross-sectional survey of 231 female and 158 male students randomly selected university undergraduates in Nigeria using a self-reported questionnaire.

Results:

The respondents overestimated the ages of slight (92.1%) and marked decline (89.4%) in female fertility. The chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex during ovulation was overestimated by 93.1% of the respondents. Over three-quarters of them overestimated the success rate of in-vitro fertilization. The sources of information regarding fertility issues were mainly school (40.1%), the media (20.6%) and family members (18.8%). About 98.7% of the childless respondents reported an intention to have children in the future. The mean number of children desired was 3.29±1.14. Females desire to have their first and last children earlier than males (p=0.000). The perceived potential obstacles to having the desired children were the pursuit of career aspirations (35.5%) and the pursuit of personal interests (20.8%).

Conclusions:

Misconceptions about fertility issues have grave implications for involuntary childlessness and secondary infertility. Comprehensive family planning education that will address the misconceptions about female fecundity and parenting issues are required.

Keywords: childbirth; fertility awareness; involuntary childlessness; parenting; university students

Authors’ contributions: OA designed the study, collected the sample, instrumentation design, conducted data analysis, wrote the initial draft of the manuscript and participated in all aspects of the study. KA participated in data analysis and in the study design. OO conducted the literature review and participated in data analysis and manuscript construction. All authors contributed to the revisions to the manuscript.
We hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership, including any and all rights incidental thereto, exclusively to the journal, in the event that such work is published by the journal.
Conflict of interest statement: No external funding was sought or obtained for this study. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Received: 2016-8-5

Accepted: 2016-9-3

Published Online: 2016-10-14

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2016-0091

Keywords for this article

childbirth; fertility awareness; involuntary childlessness; parenting; university students