Traditional perception of family planning

In this generation family planning has become the order of the day and the key to having a successful family however in the earlier day this was not emphasized since having many children was considered prestigious. For some people, the act of having many children still rocks their minds.They don’t understand how their parents or grand parents managed bring into being many children without spacing them. During the old days, our great-grandparents had their own way of practicing family planning. According to Anociata Mukakigeli, 58years old, most of their husbands worked at the palace and they would come back home weary, not able to make love. “Being labourers who worked far from home, the men were allowed to come back once a year to meet their spouses. This act helped in child spacing hence family planning in disguise.”Mukakigeri explains “There was nothing as family planning or the methods as emphasized currently besides God’s mercy that protected people of that time, to give birth in due time.” Leonard Sinzinkayo said Beatrice Mukankundiye a businesswoman in Kimisagara said that considering the fact of illiteracy, family planning was a myth and things just happened without any precautions. The traditional perspective about family was considered having many children for prestige unlike today generation which encourages few children for a bright future. Children can only bring the family prestige when they are well-to-do but when children have no good future because it was not planned it becomes a problem to the whole family. Rwanda being the most densely populated country in sub-Saharan the government introduced a Family law, according to which families should not exceed three children, to control the increasing numbers in the population. Mbbz_pelagie@yahoo.com