Sixty in-depth interviews with mothers living in a urban slum of Morocco probed resistances to practicing modern methods of fertility control and began to shed light on some of the reasons family planning programs often fail to reach illiterate target populations. Economic insecurity and the disintegration of the support networks of the traditional extended family complicate the difficult lives of young mothers in the urban slum. While such factors tend to encourage smaller families, the uncertainties and complexities of the socioeconomic structure contribute to the problems blocking access to modern methods of fertility control.
family planning barriers urban Morocco socioeconomic, obstacles contraception access illiterate women developing countries, Mernissi family planning Morocco cultural barriers, urban slum fertility control resistance qualitative study, family planning program failure illiterate populations, socioeconomic factors contraception use developing world, extended family disintegration fertility decisions Morocco, economic insecurity family size preference urban poor, in-depth interview qualitative contraception barriers North Africa, modern contraception access barriers Muslim women
Cite this article
Mernissi, F. (1975). Obstacles to family planning practice in urban Morocco. Studies in family planning, 6(12), 418-425.
Mernissi F. Obstacles to family planning practice in urban Morocco. Stud Fam Plann. 1975;6(12):418-425.
Mernissi, Fátima. "Obstacles to family planning practice in urban Morocco." Studies in family planning, vol. 6, no. 12, 1975, pp. 418-425.
Five programs of instruction in the ovulation method (OM) in diverse geographic and cultural settings are described, and characteristics of approximately 200 consecutive OM acceptors in each program are examined. the religious background and family size of acceptors are variable, as is the level of previous contraceptive use. Acceptors are drawn from a wide range of socioeconomic and religious backgrounds; however, family planning intention was similarly distributed in all five countries. In sum, the ovulation method is accepted by persons from a variety of backgrounds within and between cultural setting.
Fertility AwarenessPhysician Knowledge and AttitudesHealthcare Provider PerspectivesFamily Planning Counseling
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