Exploring post-sterilization regret in an underdeveloped society of rural West Bengal, India

The state of West Bengal has witnessed fertility transition during the last decade, though the level of infant and child mortality remained at a high level, particularly among the socio-economically disadvantaged communities. At the same time, the adoption of female sterilization has increased substantially. Adoption of sterilization in low fertility situation combined with relatively higher level of infant and child mortality could result in post-sterilization regret. The present study tries to explore post-sterilization regret in an underdeveloped region in the state of West Bengal, India. Data of 766 sterilization users belonging to 45 villages of Birbhum district of West Bengal were collected in a small-scale research study. Multivariate binary logistic regressions were used to identify the socio-demographic characteristics associated with post-sterilization regret. Women who have living children of both sexes and have participated in decision making regarding sterilization were significantly less likely to report sterilization, while those who had an incidence of child loss, reported post-sterilization health problems, did not have informed choice before sterilization and belonging to socio-economically marginalized communities were more likely to report post-sterilization regret.