Use of Family Planning During the First Year Postpartum in Ahmedabad, India

India’s urban population taken together would rank as fifth largest country in the world. Dynamics of contraceptive use in this group during postpartum period is not well researched. This paper reports results of a sample survey of 1,100 women within one year of last delivery which was carried out in Ahmedabad, India during 1988. Use of contraception was low (19.5%) in this population, so was the desire for future use. Tubectomy and IUDs were the two most commonly used methods. Sterilization rates were high only among women with at least two sons and at least one daughter indicating substantial son preference. One third of the women did not want more children of which 60% were unprotected, while 43% were not sure of their reproductive goals of which 90% were unprotected. Among women at risk of conception 77% were not using any method of contraception. There are substantial socioeconomic differences between sterilised, users of spacing methods and non-users suggesting that access to contraception varies by class. The results indicate that substantial efforts will be required during antenatal and postpartum period to increase the contraceptive prevalence in this recently delivered group of mothers in urban India. A new strategy will have to be evolved to meet the need of contraception in this large group.