Abstract: Background: Although contraceptive use has increased in many developing countries yet unmet need for family planning is an important public health issue because of its negative association with social and health outcomes for both mothers and children. Understanding the underling reasons and the characteristics of women with unmet need can help to design unmet need strategies. Aim of the work:To determine the magnitude and some of the underlying factors of unmet need for contraception for a sample of fecund married women of reproductive age (15 – 49 years) attending medical health center in Benha City. Subjects and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on four hundreds married women. Data were collected through a structured interview questionnaire sheet. It includes socio-demographic data, KAP study, reproductive aspects, and quality of care of family planning services. The size of the unmet need was estimated according to the standard EDHS 2008 definition of women with unmet need. Results: This study revealed that the level of unmet need for contraception was 30%. The percentage of illiteracy was higher for the unmet need group 33.3% and the percentage of working women was higher among contraceptive users 23.5%. None of unmet need group 0.0% realize the correct concept of family planning. The attendance of health education sessions about family planning was very low 11%. The majority of women with unmeet need (75%) believe that contraceptive methods may be harmful. The main reasons for never use of family planning methods were current lactation and fear of side effects (33% each) and that for discontinuation were the menstrual problems 59.4%. There was no significant difference between women in the unmet and met need group regarding physical accessibility to services. Conclusion and recommendations:The rate of unmeet need for family planning is still high. Family planning should have a public health focus, concentrating on creating a supportive and active family planning program at multilevels starting from the woman herself to the community as a whole and depend on the health education as the main strategy.