Determinants of the “know-do” gap regarding contraceptive use among married women of an urban slum in Western Maharashtra

Abstract

Context: The importance of family planning to promote the health and welfare of the family group and thus contribute effectively to the social development of a country cannot be overemphasized. It is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods. Despite being the first country to launch the Family Welfare Program in 1952, India has not been able to achieve the desired population levels. Aims: The aim was to study the knowledge and practices related to contraceptive use among married women in reproductive age group living in an urban slum with the objective of assessing the factors responsible for the use and nonuse of contraceptives. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 300 married females in the reproductive age group of an urban slum. Subject and Methods: This was an interviewer-based study using a prevalidated questionnaire. Results: Out of the 300 respondents, 150 (50%) respondents had two children, 179 (64.1%) had delivered their first child within 1 year of marriage, and 106 (35.3%) had delivered their first child as teenagers (before 19 years of age). A total of 295 (98.3%) respondents had some knowledge of the contraceptives. The preferred method of contraception was tubectomy among 118 (41.7%) respondents. A total of 139 (47.1%) respondents had preference for having a male child. The main reasons cited for not using contraception was want of more children and fear of side effects. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that there is an obvious “know-do gap” as there was a wide discrepancy between the knowledge and practice of contraceptive usage. Knowledge about contraceptives was universal in our study; however, the contraceptive users were only 52.7%.