Practice and barriers of family planning: A comparison among muslim women in three main cities, viz. New York City, Tehran and Kuala Lumpur
- Author:
Raja Noriza Raja Ariffin
;
Muzalwana Abdul Talib @ Abdul Mutalib
;
Nurulhuda Mohd Satar
;
Hanira Hanafi
;
Azmah Othman
;
Makmor Tumin
;
Rustam Khairi Zahari
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Barriers;
comparison;
contraception;
family planning;
Islam
- MeSH:
Family Planning Services
- From:International e-Journal of Science, Medicine and Education
2016;10(2):30-37
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background: There is a lack of information on the
practice of family planning among Muslim women in
New York City in the United States of America (USA)
[hereinafter known as “Muslim women residing in the
United States” (MWRIU)], Tehran in the Islamic
Republic of Iran (IRI) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The limited figures on this issue are either outdated
or mere estimates. The importance of sexual and
reproductive health of Muslim women is expected to
have massive effects on the social and economic progress
of developing countries like the IRI and Malaysia. It is
also expected to have imperative impacts on the attempts
to empower the MWRIU community and enhance their
health status to meet the national standards.
Objective: The study objective is to explore and
compare the practice of family planning, namely on
contraceptive use and abortion among Muslim women
in 3 major cities of different countries.
Methodology: A survey of 379, 377 and
380 respondents from New York City, Tehran and
Kuala Lumpur respectively was conducted in 2013 using
self-administered questionnaires.
Results: There were significant differences in
contraceptive and abortion practices across these
countries (P<0.01). While a significant 86.6% of Iranian
and 66.2% of the MWRIU used contraception, only
22.9% of the Malaysian women did so. For abortion,
13.6% of the MWRIU and 6.3% of the Malaysian
respondents had abortion at least once; while only 22%
of Iranians revealed their abortion history, totaling
32.1% of them who had abortion. Financial problems
and having an unsupportive husband were among the
major factors hindering their practice of healthy family
planning.
Conclusion: Educational campaigns should be promoted
to increase the awareness on the permissibility of family
planning in Islam, as well as on sexual and reproductive
rights.
- Full text:P020161104579661580335.pdf
