الفهرس 
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Abstract
SUMMARY
Egypt’s Demographic and Health Survey 2014 documented an increase in the total fertility rate to 3.5 versus 3.0 recorded by the 2008 EDHS reversing a 25-year trend of fertility decline. Recent increase in fertility in Egypt is an unusual and worrying deviation. The recent reversal of the trend has prompted alarm in popular media as to what the fertility increases influences for Egypt’s economic, environmental, and political future.
Aim of the study:
The aim of the study was a comprehensive assessment of childbearing motivations in Beni-Suef governorate which could be helpful for planning to promote conscious and satisfactory decisions regarding reproductive counseling, family planning, better understanding fertility patterns and prepare adequate familial policies and programs to reduce the fertility rate and overcome the problem of overpopulation in Upper Egypt.
Subjects and Methods
The study was designed as a cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, questionnaire-based and was conducted from February 2019 till February 2021. The target population of this study was married women attending for any health care service in the eight randomly selected urban and rural primary health care facilities in Beni-suef governorate.
This study revealed the following:
The prevalence of positive, negative, and undecided fertility motivations among the studied women (42.1%), (45%) and (12.9%) respectively.
The mean ideal child number for the studied participants was 3.0 ± 1.0. The largest percent of them takes the fertility decisions with their husbands (62.7%).
The most prevalent positive motive among the studied participants was children like (40.8%) followed by protection provided by large family size (21.9%). While the most prevalent negative fertility motive among the studied participants was economic circumstances (44.7%) followed by health and aging problems (27.2%).
There was statistically significant difference between the studied women with different fertility motivations regarding age, education, husband’s education, marital age, duration of marriage, family members, monthly income, and occupation.
The study also revealed that some obstetrical and medical history variables are significantly affecting the studied women’s desire towards childbearing such as gravidity, parity, and chronic diseases presence.
Regarding birth spacing, around two thirds of women know the ideal spacing period between births (65.0%) and (85.2%) of them had mentioned one or more benefit about birth spacing. About (45.6%) of women know the ideal spacing after abortion.
The largest percent of the studied women did not know any complications of early, late, and multiple pregnancies (54.7), (68.8), (66.9) %, respectively.
The studied women’s knowledge about ideal spacing period and complications of early pregnancy had significantly affected their fertility desire.
The majority of women know the importance of family planning (85.35%), although around 2/3 of them did not attend any family planning sessions.
Moreover, the largest percent of women and their husbands reported had a positive attitude towards family planning (71.8%) and (59.6%) respectively.
The most prevalent source of information about family planning was mass media followed by family and friends and health care providers (36.5%), (28.4%) and (21.2%) respectively.
The prevalence of contraceptive use among participants was (56.9%). The most prevalent method was IUD followed by hormonal pills (47.81%) and (36.14%) respectively. Satisfaction level among users was (87.5%). The most prevalent reasons for non-satisfaction about contraceptive method were hemorrhage (27.3%) followed by fatigue, obesity, and method failure (19.5%), (15.5%) and (14.3%) respectively.
The most prevalent barriers towards using of family planning methods were pregnancy desire (28.4%) followed by menopause and current pregnancy (17.1 %) and (13.7%) respectively.
The study revealed that the use of contraceptive and its period of time significantly affected studied women fertility desire.
Based on the previous findings this study recommended the followings:
1) For Husbands
a. Engage men as an important target group in fertility regulation interventions.
b. A resilient need to target young individuals who have not yet attained their desired family size as well as non-users of family planning to ensure that those who do not desire any more children do not get unwanted pregnancies.
c. Education, intervention, and policy programs should focus on spousal communication rather than men or women in their messages to encourage responsible reproductive and fertility behaviors.
2) For Married Women
a. Health education of married women about the ideal spacing period between births and after abortion and the benefits of birth spacing.
b. Health education of women about the complications of early, late, and multiple pregnancies.
3) For Health Care Providers
a. Health care providers should be the source of information in family planning sessions to avoid misunderstanding and misinformation.
b. Health professionals should plan for educational programs and counselling sessions for women about the side effects of contraceptive methods and how to choose the suitable one to increase the prevalence of contraceptive use and the satisfaction rate.
4) For Researchers
a. Further qualitative research on fertility motivations and the relationship between education and fertility is highly recommended to better understand these issues.