Assessment of Fertility Patterns and Determinants Among Women of Reproductive Age in Kano State

Fertility patterns in northern Nigeria reflect a complex interplay of cultural norms, educational attainment, and access to reproductive health services, and understanding these dynamics in Kano State provides a locally grounded evidence base for family planning programming. This study assessed fertility patterns and their proximate and distal determinants among women aged 15 to 49 in Kano Municipal and Nassarawa Local Government Areas, Kano State, North West Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 320 women using multistage random sampling. A structured questionnaire collected data on parity, contraceptive use, age at first marriage, educational level, and household economic status. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression were applied. Results showed a mean number of children ever born of 4.8. Contraceptive use was 14.7 percent. Age at first marriage averaged 16.3 years, with 71.9 percent of women having married before age 18. Logistic regression identified low educational attainment (OR = 3.4, p < 0.001), early marriage (OR = 2.8, p < 0.001), and low household wealth (OR = 2.2, p < 0.01) as the strongest predictors of high parity. The study concludes that education, delayed marriage, and contraceptive access are the most influential fertility determinants in Kano State. Recommendations include community-based family planning outreach, mandatory female secondary education enforcement, and integration of fertility awareness counselling into antenatal services in Kano State. Scale-up of the state's primary health care contraceptive commodity supply chain is also recommended as a priority structural investment.