Knowledge and practice of emergency contraceptives among married women: A community based cross sectional study

Emergency contraception (EC) serves as a backup in case regular contraception fails, can remarkablybring down the risk of a consequent unintended pregnancy and further complications. Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practice regarding EC among married women. To determine the association between knowledge regarding EC and socio demographic variables of married women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among urban slum areas of Jamnagar City with use of 30 cluster sampling techniquein the year 2012-13. From each cluster 15 women of reproductive age group(15-49years) were taken as study participants and total 450 married women were enrolled in the study. Statistical analysis was done by using appropriate statistical tests. Result: Out of total 450 study population,30.22% women ever heard of emergency contraception (EC) among them all were aware about E-pills, Majority considered EC safe(80.88%).very few women got knowledge from doctor (1.47%) and health workers (10.29%).only 31.23% women had ever used it. Women who were<30 years age old, well-educated and from upper socioeconomic status were more aware regarding EC. Nearly 50% women took E-pills because of timing was miscalculated (25.81%) or they were not using any contraceptives (22.58%).All the women who had practiced EC, revealed that it is 100% effective method for prevention of unwanted pregnancy in case of emergency. Conclusion: In this study, knowledge and usage rate of EC was found limited. Strategies to promote EC use should be focused on spreading accurate knowledge about it through information education and communication by health care providers and other audio-visual media.