Publication:

Awareness and contraceptive practices among reproductive women in an urban area, Telangana, India: a cross-sectional study

Background Current world population is 7.6 billions and India accounts 1.3 billions, India is the second most populous country in the world, by 2050 the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion. Family Planning can have a positive impact on population growth, maternal mortality, and infant and new-born outcomes. Hence there is a need for considerable improvement in coverage and quality of family planning services. The objective of the study is to assess the awareness and contraceptive practices among womens.

Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban health-training center area of Rangareddy district, Telangana state. The study participants involved were women of reproductive age group 15–45 years. 200 women were selected by simple random sampling technique. Data entry was done in Microsoft excel and analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results In this study 50% women belong to 26-35 year age group. 64% were literate, 41.4% belong to upper middle class, 74% women’s source of information regarding contraceptives is from medical professionals. 61% women are aware of contraception and 34% practice it.

Conclusions Based on our observation, 60% women were aware of contraception but only 34% practice at least one method. The common reasons for not practicing contraception are lack of knowledge, the desire for male child, pressure from husband. This study concludes that factors like age, education, socio-economic status have significant impact on awareness and practice of contraception.