A Cross Sectional study to Assess the Unmet Need for Contraception among Married Women in Urban Slums in a Zone of Chennai City.

INTRODUCTION : India is the second most populous country in the world next only to that of The Peoples Republic of China. As per the 2001 census, the population of India is about 1027 million. India has about 16 % of the world’s population, While it enjoys just 2.4% of the total land area. The density of population Was 324 persons per sq km, according to the 2001 census. Even though the Growth rate of several other developing countries is even higher than that of India, it must be remembered that the population base of India is very large And therefore even a low growth rate leads to substantial addition to the Population in absolute numbers. If the current trend continues, India will Overtake China in 2045 and will become the most populous nation in the World. While the global population has increased three fold during the 20th Century from 2 to 6 billion, the population of India has increased 5 fold from 238 million to 1 billion. At the beginning of last century Dr. Pyare Kishan Wattal (1916) observed That our country’s increasing birth rate is a social danger. He said, “If we Want to go to the root of it (Increasing birth rate), we must look at the causes That give rise to this increasing birth rate much more seriously than to the Secondary causes that give rise to high death rate”. It must be seen that all the recent programs aim at the unmet need for Contraception, which is a powerful concept. Women are considered to have An “unmet need” for contraception, if they are sexually active and would Prefer to avoid becoming pregnant, but nevertheless using any method of Contraception. This concept points to the gap between some women’s Reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behavior. It poses a challenge To family planning programs. By responding to the concerns of women with Unmet need, programs can serve more people and serve them better. Programs can respond best if they have a strategy that focuses on women With unmet need as a distinct audience and clientele. To develop such a Strategy, we need to understand the various reasons for unmet need, based On qualitative and survey data, to determine the size and composition of this Group, to identify the high priority subgroups and deliver information and Services to meet the specific needs of each selected subgroup. OBJECTIVES : 1. To find out the prevalence of contraceptive usage among the married Women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in the urban slums of Chennai city. 2. To calculate the unmet need for family planning among them. 3. To find out the factors associated with the non usage of contraception. SUMMARY : Recent programs have strategies, which focuses on meeting, rather than trying to change, people’s needs and aspirations. A descriptive cross sectional study among a sample of 520 currently married women of reproductive age group (15-49) of zone VIII (Kodambakkam) of Chennai Corporation, chosen by simple random method. A structured pre tested proforma, recommended for survey of family planning methods was used for the study, which included details on background characteristics, marital status and fertility, knowledge and attitude for contraception, perceived access and accessibility for contraceptives. Contraceptive prevalence rate among the study population was 59.7 %. Among the users tubectomy was the commonest method with 88 % usage, while IUDs, condoms and OCPs were used in 7.1 %, 3.5 %, and 1.3 % respectively. Knowledge of atleast one contraceptive was seen in 83.46 % of them with most of them knowing tubectomy instantaneously