The views of Somali religious leaders on birth spacing – A qualitative study

Background: Birth spacing is an important health intervention for women to attain good physical and mental health. In Somalia, religious leaders play a decisive role in approving or rejecting the use of family planning. Objective: The study aimed to investigate Somali Islamic religious leaders’ views on birth spacing. Method: Qualitative individual interviews were conducted with 17 Somali Islamic religious leaders aged 28–59 years and analysed through content analysis. Results: The main category that emerged from the analysis was that the concept “birth spacing should be used and nor family planning to be in accordance with the Islamic religion. Two perspectives of views of birth spacing were identified: accepted ways and unaccepted ways. The accepted ways include breastfeeding, use of contraceptives causing no harm to the women's health, and coitus interruptus. The preferred method should be determined by a joint agreement between the husband and wife, and that Muslim doctors should play a key role while the couples investigate their preferred method. Using contraceptives with the intention to limit the number of children was against Islamic values and practice. In addition, it was believed that using condoms promoted the temptation to engage in sex outside the marriage and was therefore prohibited. Conclusion: According to the religious Islamic leaders, selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use is permitted in relation to birth spacing to promote the health of the mother and child. When providing professional contraceptive counselling to Muslim women, the word “birth spacing” is recommended to be used instead of “family planning”.