Contraceptive non-utilization among rural Hindu women in India

According to the National Family Health Survey-II only 22% women in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India use contraceptives. Since 1952 the Family Welfare Program has not been able to significantly increase contraceptive utilization. Reasons for non-utilization and associated maternal factors are inadequately researched. We explored reasons for contraceptive non-utilization and their association with maternal factors such as caste, age, parity, number of living sons, literacy, and socio-economic status for a retrospective cross-sectional cohort of 268 rural Hindu women who were currently not using any contraceptives in Maitha, UP, India. Chi-square test and ANOVA were used. Reasons for non-utilization were: no knowledge about available methods (36%), fear of side effects (14%), family/husband disapproved (13%), inconvenience (lacked money, privacy or availability) (10%), and other reasons (28%). Caste and literacy were significantly associated with these reasons of non-utilization (p<0.05); other maternal factors were not. No knowledge about available method was the foremost reason for all caste groups and all literacy levels, p<0.05. Inconvenience was mentioned by 14% lower caste women compared to only 3% upper caste women, p<0.05; it did not vary by literacy level. In conclusion, reasons for contraceptive non-utilization were significantly associated with caste and literacy. Family Welfare Program in UP, India need to acknowledge and address reasons for non-utilization by disseminating contraceptive information to women of all caste groups and all literacy levels.