Understanding the Pattern of Contraceptive Discontinuation in India

Introduction The use of contraception among currently married women in India has increased from 41 percent in 1992-93 to 56 percent in 2005-06, while the use of spacing method increased slowly; from 10 percent to 18 percent in the same period (IIPS and Macro International, 1995, 2000, and 2007). On the contrary about 27 percent of users of all methods in the country discontinued use within 12 months after beginning its use. This varies substantially by methods; from 53 percent in case of injectables followed by pills (49%) and minimum for terminal methods (IIPS and Macro International, 2007). Thus, with increase in contraceptive prevalence, aspects of contraceptiveuse dynamics particularly, the method failure, reasons for discontinuation, switching over of methods and quality of care become critical component for programme and policy (Steele and Diamond, 1999).