Author(s): Nataraja H G, Harshini V
Objective: To determine the knowledge, awareness and the practice of various contraceptive methods in the women who wanted termination of pregnancy during I trimester. Materials and Methods: The study is a descriptive, questionnaire-based prospective study, conducted amongst 50 consecutive termination-ofpregnancy seekers during their first trimester who attended our hospital. The interview for this study was conducted by a trained medical practitioner and involved a face-to-face interview using pre-tested, structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 42 women who had been included in the study, maximum of them 14 (33.3%) were of 23-25 years age group, while 8 (19%) of 26-28yrs,8 (19%) of >32 yrs, 6 (14.2%) 19-22yrs and 2 of them were of less than 18yrs. Among all these women 10 (23.8%) had no knowledge regarding any method of contraception while 32(76.1%) women had knowledge and awareness about contraceptive methods. Conclusion: This study concludes that there is considerable level of knowledge and awareness about contraception in the women working in small scale industries but actual practice of those methods is low.