“EVALUATION OF CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE AMONGST FEMALES OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE GROUP IN AN URBAN SLUM OF A CITY IN WESTERN INDIA”

Abstract

Introduction: Family planning, through contraception, aims to achieve two key goals of achieving desired family size and spacing pregnancies effectively. According to the annual report of Government of India, the expected increase of population is around 1.21 billion people in 2011 to 1.5 billion in 2026. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in the India has reduced from 2.9 in 2005 to 2.3 in 2013 and from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 2.0 children per woman in 2019-21. We conducted this study to evaluate the proportion of women using different contraceptive methods.

Methodology: This study, conducted in the adapted slum area in a city served by the Health Centre of a medical college in western India. Reproductive age couples were included in this study. Total 200 participants were interviewed for the method of contraception used, the reasons for not using contraception and from where they are procuring these contraceptives.

Results: The participants mean age was 35.62 ± 14.25 yr. Median education status was 12^th grade. 71.5% (143/200) of the participants used contraception. Most popular method was barrier methods like condoms and spermicides, chosen by nearly 40%, followed by oral contraceptive pills used by 26.6%. Over half (58.74%) of the participants reported obtaining contraceptive services from government hospitals. The most common reason is desiring pregnancy (33.33%), followed by family pressure (29.82%).

Conclusion: We observed that the contraceptive usage in urban slum couples was 71.5%, government centres were more preferred for procurement of contraception. We recommend promotion of contraception for better family welfare and for the empowerment of families and thus the country.