Bangladesh contraceptive prevalence survey - 1989 : final report

Major findings are as follows. (1) Total fertility appears to have declined, from about 7 children per woman in the mid-1970"s to about 5 in 1989. (2) Contraceptive use continues to rise steadily, reaching 32.8% of married women under age 50 in 1989, an increase of 3% since 1986. (3) An increasing number of pill and condom users receive their supplies from family planning fieldworkers, indicating a larger role for community-based distribution systems. (4) The desire to control fertility is widespread, with 56% of currently married women wanting no more children and an additional 22.1% wanting to wait at least two years before giving birth. However, almost half of married women who want to curtail or delay future childbearing are not contracepting. (5) Orals are overwhelmingly the most popular method for first time users, and the use of both orals and injectables is correctly understood by users of these methods, though frequently not by non-users. Use of the safe period is widely misunderstood by both users and non-users. (6) Husbands are almost as knowledgeable as women about contraceptive methods and are even more likely than their wives (63% vs. 59%) to say they want no more children. (7) The average period of breastfeeding is long (30.6 months), but the percentage of 1-year olds who had begun vaccinations was at most 42.% and perhaps as low as 20.1%. Further, less than 60% of 1-3 year olds were reported as receiving all eight recommended injections. Diarrhea occurred in 31% of under-fives, and 61% of these episodes were treated with oral rehydration therapy. The infant mortality rate remains at about 120/1000 and is highest among the urban poor.