Family planning in a suburban development of Mexico City
Gutiérrez Avila, J.H.; González Cortés, A.; González Cortés, A.
Salud Publica de Mexico 24(1): 39-47
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-3634 PMID: 7089701 Document Number: 192012
To study the prevalence of contraceptive use among women in reproductive age, 15-50, and living in urban slums, the female population of Colonia Ajusco was surveyed. Colonia Ajusco is situated south of Mexico City; 70% of its population comes from the interior of the country; there is no drinkable water and no sewage system; housing conditions and urban services are very poor. 606 women were investigated; 58% of them were below age 36, and 53.5% were parity 4 and over. 56.4% used contraception; of these 36.7% used the IUD, 23.1% the pill, and 16.7% had been sterilized. The contraceptive method used seemed to be strictly related to the type of medical services used; women using the IUD were mostly patients of the Social Security medical services, while women using the pill were mostly clients of private physicians. There was no association between age and the method used. 88.4% of women not using contraception did not have easy availability of medical services. The percentage of women using contraception, 56.4% seems high in relation to other Latin American countries, but it is very low in relation to the percentage of contraceptive users in more developed countries (93% in England). The use of the IUD as the method of choice can be explained by several factors: the massive national advertising campaign, low cost, ease of insertion, and no need for sustained motivation to use contraception. From all studies on contraceptive prevalence in Mexico it appears that women start to regulate their fertility after the 1st child, or even after the 4th child. Women below 20 still tend to resort to illegal abortion.