Post Partum Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device: Government of India Initiative

Background:  Post partum contraception is a growing aspect to ensure proper maternal and child care post delivery in developing countries. Yet, the use and knowledge of importance of proper spacing between pregnancies is very low in developing countries, and there is a growing emphasis on clinicians and public health practitioners to raise awareness of methodologies and importance of post partum contraception among women, and train more clinicians in prescribing appropriate contraception methods.

Methods: From published literature, government reports, city municipal corporation data we reviewed the Post-Partum Intrauterine Contraceptive Device Initiative (PPIUCD) of the Government of India and its implementation in the city of Mumbai.

Results: Overall, the PP-IUCD initiative has been successful in India and is an equitable family planning method which involved training of clinicians from across the city and nation in the use of PP-IUCD. The education component provides clinicians the guidelines for communicating with patients under proper cultural settings. Use of IUCD is simple, efficient, safe, reliable, and  offers long term contraception. PPIUCD has a high population uptake in the city of Mumbai that has a diverse population being catered in public hospital systems. Finally, PPIUCD is associated with reduced reporting of Pelvic inflammatory disease and other side effects by the target audience.

Conclusions: The PPIUCD initiative is an example that developing nations can adopt. In particular the intervention is suitable for nations with high maternal mortality post-partum and growing problems with population control. The initiative is also supported by JHPIEGO, an initiative of John Hopkins University.