Asian women's use of family planning services

Detailed research on the family planning needs of Asian women is extremely important in informing public policy in the new purchaser-provider environment of the National Health Service (NHS), which was introduced in 1991. In depth interviews were conducted with Asian women of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds in the South and West Regional Health Authority area, to investigate their family planning behaviour and use of family planning services. This research shows significant diversity in the knowledge and use of contraception between married professional women, married non-professional women and unmarried women. This paper examines the different family planning service implications for each group of women. The results show that professional married women and unmarried women are able to meet their family planning needs by utilising existing family planning services. However, married non-professional women experience significant difficulties in using family planning services largely due to communication problems with health professionals and their low levels of personal autonomy. Most Asian women in this study showed a strong preference for a female GP and a non-Asian GP for sexual health and contraceptive services.