Study of awareness, availability, practice & acceptance of contraception amongst reproductive age women

Abstract

Introduction: Contraception which is the need of the hour is an important intervention to reduce unwanted pregnancy and promote healthy living among women. Dedicated competency-based training and ongoing educational support improve the quality of family planning services provided by healthcare providers of all stripes4. In public health institutions in India, contraceptive techniques such as intrauterine devices (IUCDs), oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), and condoms are accessible starting at the subcenter level. The majority of women in reproductive age either know very little or the wrong information regarding family planning techniques. Even if they are aware of some contraceptive names, they are clueless about how to use them or where to obtain them. These women have negative attitude about family planning, whereas some have heard false and misleading information^6,7. Present study was planned with the objective of assessing the awareness, availability, practice & acceptance of contraception amongst reproductive age women at tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: Present study is a cross sectional prospective study conducted from duration December 2022 to May 2023 at Dhiraj Hospital, Vadodara. In present study women of reproductive age group between age 15-49 years who visited obstetrics & gynecology outpatient department were enrolled. After obtaining detailed clinical history they were counselled about various contraception methods available and allowed to choose a method of their choice. Data on acceptance, availability, contraception method chosen, contraception already using & reason for denial were recorded & assessed for results. Observations and Results: Maximum cases were from age group 15 to 25 years. Rural & urban cases were almost similar in quantity. Hindu were maximum followed by Muslim & other religion. Literate dominated whereas illiterate was less in our study. Majority were housewife’s & remaining less participants were working women. About 65 % cases were aware of contraception. At the end 74 % accepted one of the methods of contraception whereas 26 % refused. IUCD was the commonest method employed/used by participants contributing. OCP was the second most opted contraception method found. Fear of side effects was present in 54 %. Conclusion: To conclude contraceptive acceptance in our study was found as 74 % whereas awareness was present in 65 %. The family planning services must be strengthened. Programmes to educate women about the need of using contraception to reduce the number of children born are crucial

Keywords: Contraception, IUC, reproductive