DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH.

Rational: Family planning is globally recognized as a key life- saving intervention for maternal and child health, it is one of the important components of Reproductive health strategy of the country. There for realizing of Family planning knowledge, attitudes and practices among women is quite necessary. Objectives: To estimate the knowledge, Prevalence and attitude toward Family planning among married women of reproductive age (15-49) in Helmand. Method: A Cross-sectional study is conducted in outpatient department of two health facilities, Kart-e-lagan CHC and Nadali CHC in two districts of Helmand province. A convenient sample of 384 married women from reproductive age selected attending outpatient department of health facilities. Population: Total population was 384 married women attending outpatient departments of Kart-e-lagan and Nadali CHCs. Time Frame: The study took total of 38 weeks from its start up to draft of final report. Results: The study showed that knowledge of modern contraceptives among respondents were high, 92% of women heard of family planning, majority of them heard from health care providers. Women preferred healthcare providers for seeking counseling regarding Birth spacing. 58% women used any modern contraceptive method, and 20.9% were currently using any modern method. 27.4% intended not using contraceptives in future reasoning its side effects. Women welling NGO clinic for obtaining contraceptives commodities. Majority used Pill for spacing their births. Husbands was the preferred group about making decision for birth spacing. Conclusion and Recommendation: Awareness does not always lead to the use of contraceptives. A lot of educational and motivational activities and improvement in Family planning services are needed to promote the use of contraceptives and reduce maternal and child mortality. Men involvement in health care programs design is of utmost importance as they mostly influence decision making at the household level which resulted in active male participation and community ownership. Acknowledgements: I, the author of the paper would like to express my sincere gratitude to my professors at Jodhpur Scholl of Public