The Best Time to Be Told

After 15 years in operation, the Population Council has found that the most effective time to tell poor or ignorant young women about birth control is just after they have had a baby. Not only in India, but also in U.S. low-income strata, 10% of women become pregnant again within seven months after a live birth, and 20% within a year. After a stillbirth or abortion, with no nursing to reduce fertility, the interval can drop to as little as three months.

Conducting an experimental program in 25 hospitals in 14 countries, the council delivered its message to 300,000 women. In some hospitals, the approach was soft sell, with tasteful leaflets, individual talks and optional group discussions. In Ankara and Trivandrum, the birth controllers took advantage of the fact that they had a captive audience: over loudspeakers, interspersed between news and music, were frequent plugs for family planning and playlets demonstrating its benefits. Worldwide, one woman out of three accepted birth-control advice and supplies (free or at nominal cost), including pills and intrauterine devices. Among these 101,725 women, the council figures, 40,400 pregnancies would normally have occurred within a year. Actually there were only 7,900, leaving 32,500 births averted, or a fertility reduction rate of 81%.

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