Studies in family planning
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Data from the 1983 fertility survey in Jordan indicate that 26 percent of married women were using contraceptives, reflecting a very small relative increase in use in the seven years before the survey. Only 5 percent of nonusers stated that they desired to use a method. ⋯ Also, among nonusers who did not desire to use a method, many stated they did not desire to become pregnant, yet were exposed to the risk of pregnancy. A pool of potential users exists who can be considered in need of contraception (i.e., fecund, not pregnant or desiring pregnancy, and not using contraceptives)--20 percent of all currently married, childbearing-age women--who may become contraceptive users as attitudes toward contraception change.
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During the 12-month period from September 1982 to August 1983, 9,317 live births and 58 maternal deaths were recorded in Melanda and Islampur upazilas in the Jamalpur district of rural Bangladesh, giving a maternal mortality rate of 62.3 per 10,000 live births. Maternal mortality was positively related to maternal age and parity, with the mortality risk rising very sharply beyond age 35 years, and beyond parity four among women aged 25-34 years in particular. The most common causes of maternal death were eclampsia (20.7 percent), septic abortion (20.7 percent), postpartum sepsis (10.3 percent), obstructed labor (10.3 percent), and antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage (10.3 percent). These findings indicate that family planning, by decreasing the likelihood of pregnancy after age 35 and parity four, can help reduce the proportion of women at risk of maternal mortality.
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Comparative Study
Legislation on contraception and abortion for adolescents.
The serious health and social consequences of adolescent pregnancy call for the examination of the laws that affect adolescents' access to contraception and abortion. The general law of any country relating to the availability, sale, or distribution and financing of contraceptives affects adolescents. Similarly, a country's general law on abortion applies to adolescents faced with unwanted pregnancy and affects them accordingly. In addition, special legislation relating to adolescents, particularly legislation or court decisions concerning parental consent for contraception or abortion for a minor, has an important influence on the access that sexually active young people have to services.
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In 1983, one-quarter of married Guatemalan women aged 15-44 years were using contraception, and female sterilization was the most prevalent method. Fertility rates for the population were at correspondingly high levels, with an overall total fertility rate of about six births per woman. ⋯ From 1978 to 1983, prevalence increased overall by six percentage points, with surgical contraception accounting for most of the increase. Findings of the study suggest that different strategies need to be employed among Ladino and Indian women in order to increase contraceptive prevalence in these subgroups.
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Sex education laws and policies are important in facilitating or blocking efforts to provide adolescents with sexuality education and information. Legislation in developing and industrialized countries concerns both sexuality education in schools and adolescents' access to information on contraception and abortion. Although laws and policies vary, the trend is to remove laws restricting sex education and information and to promote the flow of reproductive health information for adolescents. The integration of sex education with programs that provide contraceptive services offers the promise of preventing unwanted pregnancy in adolescents, with its all too frequent tragic health and social consequences.