A Comparison of Natural Family Planning Knowledge among Family Planning Counselors in South Sulawesi

Abstract

The research is a descriptive study aimed to investigate the understanding of Family Planning counselors on Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods. Although the information about Family Planning Services already available, the level of participation on Family Planning is still low, especially on NFP. One of the factors causing this phenomenon is the inadequate information provided by doctors, nurses, and family planning, counselors. In order to encourage community participation through NFP methods, their understanding of how reproductive cycles relate with a fertile period should be enhanced. For this purpose, Family planning counselors play an important role, as they are responsible for providing reliable information for the community. Accordingly, an assessment of the counselors' level of knowledge on NFP as well as the different level of knowledge among Family Planning counselors in cities and districts. The study population was all family planning counselors in South Sulawesi, and a total of 45 counselors from two regencies and one city participated as the study sample. The data of the counselors' knowledge were collected using an objective test and essay questions regarding NFP methods. The result showed that the average knowledge regarding NFP methods of Family Planning counselors in Makassar City was higher than the counselors from Maros and Gowa regencies.