Unlocking the Silent Struggle: Addressing Unmet Family Planning Needs in Saurashtra's Health Centres

• Published in: National Board of Examinations Journal of Medical Sciences 2024-06, Vol.2 (Issue 6), p.553-565
• Main Authors: Swati Misra, KaushikKumar Damor, R Naveen Shyam Sundar, Eshwar Kumar Gupta, Dipesh Parmar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: contraception; family planning; practices; unmet needs
• ISSN: 2583-7524
• DOI: 10.61770/NBEJMS.2024.v02.i06.003

Introduction: According to NFHS-V revealed that in Gujarat, contraceptive prevalence rate was 65.3%. Female sterilization is the predominant contraception method, favored by 35.9% of individuals. Whereas, total unmet need for family planning is 10.3%. Women with unmet need are those who are fecund and sexually active but are not using any method of contraception, and report not wanting to delay the next child. The concept of unmet need points to the gap between women’s reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behaviour. Aims & Objectives of study is the prevalence of unmet needs of family planning and its determinants among married women (15-49 yrs) attending rural and urban health centre of a teaching hospital of Saurashtra Region of Gujarat. Methodology: Cross-sectional Hospital based study which was conducted at rural & urban health centre under MPGMC, Jamnagar, Gujarat amongst married women (15-49 yrs) during April 2021 to August 2021. Sample size was calculated by using Daniels Formula. Verbal informed consent was taken from every subject. The study was initiated after it was approved by the Research and Ethics Committee of MPSGMC. Results: In this study, conducted with a total of 300 participants (comprising 150 from rural areas and 150 from urban areas), the unmet need for family planning stands at approximately 35.67%. This figure was even higher among younger age groups and among women with smaller family sizes. Of the participants, 51% were currently utilizing contraceptive methods, with only a small percentage reporting contraceptive use by their partners. Government health facilities were the major source of contraceptive service. Conclusion: Unmet needs of family planning were high in this study population, and the knowledge about the contraceptive use and family planning was found to be fairly adequate.