Giuffrida); University of California, San Diego (
Lundgren) As efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals gain momentum, better understanding of underlying social and individual factors that influence unmet need could improve social and behavior change efforts.
Women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face complex and multifaceted obstacles in managing their fertility. For instance, gender role expectations and other social factors related to family planning (FP) communication and decision-making play roles in method adoption and continuation. Research indicates that unmet need for FP in West Africa continues to grow. This longitudinal, qualitative cohort study investigates the processes involved in FP behaviour change among women and men in southwest Benin, leading to a typology of FP users based on FP need, attitudes, and behaviours, as well as the role of enabling factors and barriers, such as social and gender norms.