Family planning measures--their merits and demerits
Roy, D.
Journal of the Indian Medical Association 66(11): 265-268
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5847 PMID: 977970 Document Number: 97322
When the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1972 did not bring about the hoped for decline in the birthrate in Inia, the gevernment began to consider alternative family planning measures including raising the legal age at marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys. However, as facilities and educational efforts expand, greater use may be made of legal abortion as a contraceptive measure. Currently available are menstrual regulation, vacuum aspiration, curettage, and saline and prostaglandin injections. It is noted that the scarcity of uterine aspirators and of prostaglandins make procedures involving them impractical in India on a large scale. Other measures include tubal sterilization (the minilaparotomy is particularly recommended for rural areas), IUDS, and pills. Close follow-up is required of sterilization cases as untreated complications could result in negative publicity. In fact, IUDs have fallen into disrepute largely because of resulting complications, failures, and side effects. Pills are currently in use only among the educated urban classes. Because of their side effects they can never be used on a mass scale in India.