Family planning knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Indian married youth: Preliminary findings from Lucknow and Kanpur Nagar, Uttar Pradesh

BACKGROUND. In October 2007, the PSP-One project launched a multifaceted initiative to increase Lucknow health care providers' capacity to provide quality family planning information and products to married youth. We conducted a baseline survey on the target population's family planning knowledge, attitudes, and practices to (1) inform program development and (2) obtain baseline data against which to compare changes over time. DESIGN/METHODS. We conducted a household survey of young married men and women in the urban areas of Lucknow and comparison city Kanpur Nagar. Survey teams screened households clustered around participating program providers and administered questionnaires. Eligible participants were currently married women aged 15-24 years and men aged 20-29 years living in households belonging to socioeconomic classes B, C, and D. RESULTS. Of the 2,573 participants overall, two-thirds had at least one child. Fifty-nine percent had ever used a contraceptive method, with condoms the most common method ever used, followed by oral contraceptives. Just over half of all respondents reported that they used a contraceptive method for the first time after they had one child. Current contraceptive users (44%) primarily used condoms (63%), withdrawal (11%) or oral contraceptives (10%); IUDs and injectables were uncommon (<4%). The proportion of females that had been pregnant at least one time ranged from 66% (15-19 year olds) to 88% (20-24 year olds). CONCLUSIONS. Married youth are a poorly understood segment of the population with demonstrated needs for improved access to and understanding of contraceptive methods, particularly for birth spacing after the first child.