Background: One of the many decisions made in the household, which has consequence on family well-being, is the timing and spacing of children. This study explored the association between exposure to various forms of communication strategies and contraceptive behavior between women of reproductive age and their spouses.
Methods: The study was mixed method in design with sequential exploratory method of data collection. About 228 women who gave birth in the last 2 to 4 years and are residing in Kano for more than 6 months were selected using multistage random sampling technique.
Results: A total of 228 women of childbearing age were interviewed. Majority of the respondent (39.5%) were in the age group 15 to 25 years. The respondents indicated that the most commonly encountered childbirth spacing media programs in Kano State were "Lafiyar Iyalina" and "Ya Take ne Arewa" (with each having 20.6% of the respondents). Using logistic regression model, only watching "Lafiya Jari" [P=0.001, AOR=0.204, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.204–0.514] and listening to "Lafiya Babbar Ni'ima" (P=0.018, AOR= 0.291, 95% CI =0.11–0.81) were found to be independent predictors of uptake of childbirth spacing.
Conclusion: Governments and partners working on childbirth spacing should ensure appropriate information on childbirth spacing is passed to the general public using the different relevant mass media to complement interpersonal communications in health facilities. In addition, all media programs on childbirth spacing should target men as partners in progress in matters related to family planning. Keywords: Childbirth spacing, communication, program, uptake, utilization
