Publication:

Assessment of unmet need for family planning and its determinants in a rural block of Haryana

Background Unmet need represents the gap between women’s reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behavior. Meeting the unmet need for family planning would help to reduce the mortality and morbidity from unwanted pregnancies. Objectives of the study were to assess the unmet need for family planning and its determinants among married rural women.

Methods The present study was community based cross-sectional study conducted in rural area of Haryana from September 2015 to August 2016 among 500 currently married women (18-49 years).

Results The unmet need for family planning was 19.2% (4.8% spacing and 14.4% limiting). Education, occupation and desirable number of children were significantly associated with unmet need for family planning. The commonest reason for not using contraception among those with unmet need was fear of side-effects (37.5%) followed by in-laws disapproval (21.9%) and others.

Conclusions The unmet need for family planning was high. Women’s education and empowerment by protecting their health, wellbeing and rights, including their reproductive rights would prove to be beneficial.