A Qualitative Study of Clandestine Contraceptive Use in Urban Mali

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10795202
AutoresSarah Castle (0000-0002-7310-6506, University of London, autor de correspondencia), Mamadou Konaté, Mamadou Kani Konaté, Priscilla R Ulin, Sarah Martins (0000-0001-7285-1312), Sarah Martin (0000-0003-0307-4665)
Año1999
Volumen30
Número3
Páginas231-248
Fecha de publicación1999-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Family Planning (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0039-3665 • E-ISSN: 1728-4465
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1728-4465.1999.00231.x
PMID10546314
OpenAlexW2154220484
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas36
Referencias citadas22

This prospective study uses qualitative methods to examine the social and economic impact of family planningon women's lives in the district of Bamako, Mali. Fifty‐five first‐time users of contraceptives were interviewed in October 1996. Of particular interest is the high proportion (17/55) of those who had hidden their use of a birth‐control method from their husbands. Substantial collusion is found to have occurred between sisters‐in‐law in assisting each other to gain and hide methods of family planning and to keep their use secret from their spouses and older marital relatives. The main reason for discontinuation among the clandestine users was menstrual disruption, which they feared would make their husbands aware of their contraceptive use. By the end of the study, women were aware that their use of contraceptives had increased their mobility and available time, enabling them to enhance the quantity and efficiency of their work activities. Contraception, therefore, appears to be a valuable resource, permitting women to improve their economic and social status. In settings where clandestine use is prevalent, at least in the short term involving men in family planning programs may not always be beneficial, nor may considering the couple as the unit of intervention and analysis always be appropriate. In the long term, however, the underlying causes of men's objections to contraceptive use need to be addressed so as to facilitate communication and joint decisionmaking about family planning

Birth control · Developed country · Developing country · Discontinuation · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Family planning · Fertility · Intervention (counseling · Political science · Population · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Research methodology · Social policy · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Global Maternal and Child Health · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology