Fertility and contraception in Puerto Rico
Beebe, G.W.; Belaval, J.S.
Puerto Rico Journal of Public Health and Tropical Medicine 18(1): 3-52
1942
ISSN/ISBN: 0370-1506 PMID: 12275792 Document Number: 479330
A contraceptive service was established in Puerto Rico in 1937. Detailed study of the reproductive history of low income families admitted to the service provides information for the basis of the present high fertility of the population and the likelihood of its continuance. The experience of these families following admission to the contraceptive service shows the impact of the service upon their fertility, testing the view that Puerto Rico might respond to an organized birth control effort. The sample consisted of 1962 families selected not randomly but on the basis of indigence and interest in contraceptive advice. 1/3 of the couples reported some previous effort at contraception, with most of the contraceptive practice depending on withdrawal. Residence, education, occupation, and income are all associated with the marked variation in the proportions who reported contraceptive experience. The percentages are 26 and 52 for rural and urban residence; 21, 27, 44, and 59 for the educational groupings with less than 5 to 7 and 8 or more completed grades. For the low, medium, and high occupational groups, the percentages are 20, 45, and 69, and for the corresponding income classes they are 22, 42, and 66. Women aged 25 to 29 and 30 to 34 report contraceptive practice with much greater relative frequency than younger women. Clearly marked differences are found in the rates for contraceptors of different social and economic classes. Although the reason for high fertility in Puerto Rico is due to lack of cultural and economic pressure to limit families, there is evidence to suggest that use of birth control has begun. It appears that fertility reduction would be implemented if the population possessed better knowledge of birth control measures and readier access to contraceptive materials, particularly condoms. A clinical program to encourage the use of contraception might also prove effective.