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Modern Methods of Fertility Regulation: When and for Whom are they Appropriate?

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Anthropology and International Health

Part of the book series: Culture, Illness, and Healing ((CIHE,volume 15))

Abstract

According to the 1982 Sri Lanka Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS), 99 percent of ever-married women interviewed had knowledge of at least one contraceptive method, and 97 percent knew of a supply source or service point for this method. Fifty-five percent of currently married women interviewed during the survey had engaged in some form of contraception related behavior. This figure represents a significant increase over the findings of the 1975 World Fertility Survey (WFS) in Sri Lanka which found that 32 percent of married women interviewed had engaged in some contraceptive practice. The most popular method of contraception reported by the CPS was female sterilization, the method having been adopted by 17 percent of all women surveyed. Prevalence rates for other means of birth control were: rhythm, 13 percent; withdrawal, 5 percent; other traditional methods, 7 percent; male sterilization, 4 percent; condom, 3 percent; pill, 3 percent; and IUD, 3 percent. Between the 1975 WFS and the 1982 CPS surveys, reported prevalence of female sterilization and traditional contraceptive practices nearly doubled, while pill and condom use increased slightly and IUD use declined significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Mark Nichter

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  1. Mark Nichter
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© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Nichter, M. (1989). Modern Methods of Fertility Regulation: When and for Whom are they Appropriate?. In: Anthropology and International Health. Culture, Illness, and Healing, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2231-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2231-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-0158-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2231-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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