Himalayan Times (1960)

gimiuiau. <*4m» February 7, 1S0O

EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTRACEPTIVES

RESULTS OF A DELHI STUDY
By Dr. S. N. Agarwala

Can the use of Contraceptives reduce fertility ! If yes, by how much t Stix and Notts-
ttin found that, in D. 8 A. contraception-use was - effective in reducing expected pregnancies
by 90 per ctnt through clinic service and by SO per cent without clinic service. What is ths
possibility in India t A study made in Delhi shows that Government employees attending

V, H. 8. 8. clinics have been able to reduce expected pregnancies by SO per cent through the

use of diaphragm and jelly. /.

It is well known that The Demographic Re- About 8o per tent of

the Government of India search Cente, Delhi Uni- the women-patientsX had

are keen to encourage the versity, Delhi carried out 'heir first menstrual flow

family planning movement a study relating to the between the age of 13 and

Through their efforts a patients who visited dif- . >S years The mean age

number of family planning ferent Delhi family plan- at menarche of the patients

clinics have been opened ning clinics run under the was 14.1 years. I he mean

in the country, and advice Contributory Health Ser- age of marriage of the

on family limitation is being vice Scheme of the Go- women was 17 years and of

provided in a number of vernment oj_ India. The their nuptials (consumma-

dispensaries. However, it objective was to find the tion of marriage) 17.5 years,

is not enough to know th^t socio economic and demo- Their average age at the

the number of family plan- graphic dttai s of the pa- time of their first visit to

ning clinics is increasing tients of these clinics, and the clinics was 27 years,

and that the number of also to estimate the phy- Before clinic-attendance they

the patients visiting these siological, clinical, and de- had been married, on an

clinics is also^growing. mographic effectiveness of average, for a period of

It is more desirable various contraceptives. .'. 9-6 years and had expe-

.10 know the extent to The patients to these rienced f°.urL P«gnancies.

which different groups of clinics were mostly drawn °"t of wf.,c,n an average

people use the available from the moderate income °.( >2. children were sur-

family planning services groups of tie working and viving.

and the ' effectiveness" the middle classes. They Out of a total 0(5912

with which they do so. had an average income of patients studied by us,

It may be pointed tout Rs. 214 per month. The °nly 3424 ^ 58 Per cent

that contraception-use effec- patients were mostly women. bad practised one or more

tiveness depends not only Ninety per cent of them methods of contraception

on the reliability of the Were literate and 88 per before clinic-attendance,

contraceptives used but cent of those literate had Among the methods re.

also on the clinic service attended a school. Lite- ported as having been used,

and the co-operation of racy among their husbands condom ^as the- most

patients reflected in the was' 99 per cent and 92 common. If was used by

regularity or otherwise of .per cent of them had been 56 per cent patients. Next

their use of contraceptives. to schocl. ' to condom,, withdrawal was