A Study To Assess The Perception, Acceptance And Satisfaction Regarding Postpartum Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device Services In A Tertiary Care Hospital In A Coastal District Of Karnataka.

Introduction Unintended pregnancy is an important public health issue in developing countries like India because of its association with adverse social and health outcomes. Family planning enables women to achieve healthy spacing between births and reduces maternal and child mortality by 10%. Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) is effective immediately after insertion and provides very effective, safe and long-term –yet reversible protection from pregnancy. Postpartum IUCD insertion has a higher rate of retention. Objective To assess the perception, acceptance and satisfaction regarding postpartum IUCD services among the women delivering in a tertiary care hospital in the coastal district of Karnataka. Materials and Methods An observational cross-sectional study with a consecutive sampling method was conducted in the coastal district of Karnataka for a period of 2months with a pretested semi-structured questionnaire by interview technique. Data was compiled in Microsoft Excel, validated and analysed using statistical software: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Results 198 women were counselled for PPIUCD insertion, only 38.39% gave consent and 26.76% actually got inserted PPIUCD. The reasons for non-acceptance were fear of complications (11.98%), no familial support (9.15%) and using other contraceptive methods (35.85%). Factors like education status, Socio-Economic Status (SES), parity and previous use were positively correlated with acceptance of PPIUCD. No immediate complications were reported. Conclusion The PPIUCD has proven to be a useful long-term contraceptive method that is safe, effective, and useful for decreasing family size and spacing out births. Even though they are well aware of PPIUCD, they are hesitant to adopt it. Effective counselling can tackle these issues by clearing all the confusion.