Debojit Chutia1 , Pushpita Barman2
BACKGROUND Family planning through contraception offers a positive view of reproductive life and wellâ??being. It allows individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. We wanted to assess the awareness and practice patterns of family planning among the tea garden antenatal mothers attending the antenatal sessions in Cachar district. METHODS A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 antenatal mothers attending the antenatal sessions in 4 tea garden areas under Dholai BPHC, Cachar District for 6 months from June 2018 to November 2018. Data was presented as proportion, mean and standard deviation. RESULTS Among 200 antenatal women, majority (38.5 %) were 20 - 24 years of age, 98 % were Hindu by religion, and 56 % belonged to class IV socioeconomic class. Regarding educational status, 34.5 % were educated up to primary school, while 33.5 % were illiterate. Out of 200 participants, only 49 % (98) were aware of contraception. Health worker was reported to be their main source of information. Among those who were aware of contraception (n=98), only 45.9 % used contraceptive. Regarding the reason for not using contraception among women who did not use contraception, desire for children was the main reason (75.5 %). CONCLUSIONS In the present study, there is a low level of awareness of family planning methods and among those who were aware (n=98) of contraception, less than half had history of usage of contraception. So, there is a need to focus on both awareness and motivation of couples to increase the utilization of family planning services.
