Antenatal utilization, family planning and fertility preferences in Tari
Vail, J.
Papua and new Guinea Medical Journal 45(1-2): 134-141
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0031-1480 PMID: 14658836 Document Number: 422383
This paper reports on the results of a questionnaire on antenatal utilization, family planning and fertility preferences carried out on 2560 women in Tari in 1998. There is a very high level of utilization of antenatal and delivery services. There is also a broad knowledge of family planning methods, but very low uptake of these services. Part of the reason for this lies in high fertility preferences among women in Tari, part in a lack of confidence regarding the methods, and part in male opposition to their use. Comparison with elsewhere in Papua New Guinea confirms that health service utilization and fertility preferences are high, and family planning uptake is low in Tari. The decline in health services and the collapse of law and order in Tari bodes ill for the future of a family planning program in a district in which the need for such services is rising, due to the effects of population pressure on the environment.