Medical termination of pregnancy and concurrent contraceptive adoption in rural India

This study reports on 2,755 women seeking medical termination of pregnancy (MTP), and concurrent contraceptive acceptance, at a clinic in rural India from 1976 to 1987. The level of contraceptive acceptance among married women seeking MTP between 1976 and 1987 was 88.2 percent. Among married women seeking MTP in their first trimester of pregnancy, 43.4 percent accepted the IUD as a method of contraception and 41.8 percent accepted sterilization. By contrast, only 11.5 percent of women in their second trimester accepted the IUD, but 70.2 percent accepted sterilization. Seventy-two percent of the unmarried women and 43 percent of the married women seeking MTP were in their second trimester. Recommendations are made to: (1) combine contraceptive services and counseling with MTP whenever possible, (2) examine the consequences of policies that exclude unmarried women from contraceptive services, (3) investigate the reasons why so many women in this study sought MTP so late in pregnancy, and (4) obtain information on the determinants of contraceptive acceptance among women who seek MTP.