To inform women of the risks associated with high parity and to increase understanding of birth control methods especially voluntary surgical contraception the University of Benin Teaching Hospital launched a family planning and education program for pregnant women who had had 4 or more previous deliveries. More than 1000 high-parity women admitted for prenatal care during a 19-month period were randomly allocated either to a treatment group exposed to 4 individualized counseling sessions on family planning methods and the health risks associated with high parity or to a control group that received only the standard family planning information provided at the prenatal clinic. Overall 71% of the women in the treatment group were using an effective method of birth control at 6 weeks postpartum compared with 51% of the women in the control group. About 40% of women in both groups had indicated at admission that they did not want more children but women in the treatment group were significantly more likely to choose female sterilization as their postpartum contraceptive method than women in the control group--13% compared with 3%. By age the proportions sterilized in the treatment group ranged from 4% of those younger than 30 to 28% of those 35 and older; comparable proportions for the control group were 2% and 9% respectively. 6% of women in the treatment group who had 4 living children underwent sterilization compared with 46% of those with 7 or more living children. Among control patients the proportions were 0 and 5% respectively. (authors) (summaries in ENG FRE SPA)