Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T09:03:32.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Female sterilisation in India: Examining the role of women’s own decision making and information given to client

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2022

Arjun Jana Open the ORCID record for Arjun Jana [Opens in a new window]  and
Chander Shekhar Open the ORCID record for Chander Shekhar [Opens in a new window]
Arjun Jana*
Affiliation:
PhD Scholar, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
Chander Shekhar
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Fertility and Social Demography, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: arjunjana1996@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

India has a very high prevalence of female sterilisation compared to other countries in the world, with a prevailing situation of very low level of information about contraceptive options given to women. It is well established in demographic research that, there exists a strong association between knowledge of contraceptive methods and type of contraception chosen. Present study uses data from 3 consecutive rounds of National Family Health Survey (3, 4 & 5). The sample contains currently married women who started using the current method 5 years prior to each round of survey. Multilevel Logistic Regression and Fairlie Decomposition Model are used to analyse the effect of information given to respondents and decision-making power regarding contraceptive methods on choice of female sterilisation. Women, who are informed about available methods, have lower chance (45.8%, 37.5% & 40% for NFHS 3, 4 & 5 respectively) to opt for sterilisation after controlling all other factors. If woman is the sole decision maker for contraceptive choice, the chance of sterilisation reduces than cases where decision is taken only by husband or jointly. Information about other methods also contributes towards reducing the chance of female sterilisation over the time. Information about contraceptive methods is found to be a major factor in controlling choice of temporary or permanent method. Thus, major focus for the policy makers should be to make information regarding contraceptives more accessible for women.

Keywords

Coerced SterilisationContraceptive DecisionInformed Choice
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 55 , Issue 5 , September 2023 , pp. 960 - 979
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bacci, ML (2017) A Concise History of World Population. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, UK, pp. 193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bansal, A and Dwivedi, LK (2020) Sterilisation regret in India: Is quality of care a matter of concern? Contraception and Reproductive Medicine 5(13), 1–12. doi: 10.1186/s40834-020-00115-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baveja, R, Buckshee, K, Das, K, Das, SK, Hazra, MN, Gopalan, S, Goswami, A, Kodkany, BS, Sujaya Kumari, CN, Zaveri, K, Roy, M, Datey, S, Gaur, LN, Gupta, NK, Gupta, RN, Saxena, NC, Singh, R, Kumar, S, Yadav, SC and Saxena, BN (2000). Evaluating contraceptive choice through the method-mix approach. An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) task force study. Contraception, 61(2), 113–119. doi: 10.1016/s0010-7824(00)00089-5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brault, MA, Schensul, SL, Singh, R, Verma, RK and Jadhav, K (2016) Multilevel Perspectives on Female Sterilisation in Low-Income Communities in Mumbai, India. Qualitative health Research, 26(11), 1550–1560. doi: 10.1177/1049732315589744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coale, AJ (1983) Population Trends in China and India (A Review). Proceeding of National Academy of Science of the United States of America 80(6), 1757–1763. URL: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/80/6/1757.full.pdf (accessed 17 July 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J and Ezer, T (2013) Human Rights in Patient Care: A Theoretical and Practice Framework. Health and Human Rights Journal 15(2), 7–19. URL: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2013/12/human-rights-in-patient-care-a-theoretical-and-practicalframework/ (accessed 6 June 2021).Google Scholar
Curtis, KM, Mohllajee, AP and Peterson, HB (2006) Regret following female sterilisation at a young age: a systematic review. Contraception 73(2), 205–210. doi; 10.1016/j.contraception.2005.08.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmeades, J, Pande, RP, Falle, T and Krishnan, S (2011) Son preference and sterilisation use among young married women in two slums in Bengaluru city, India. Global Public Health 6(4), 407–420. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2010.533686.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epari, V, Patnaik, L, Prasad, D, Sahu, T, Soodireddy, A and Acharya, A (2017) Contraceptive behavior of couples undergoing sterilisation in an Eastern State of India. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 6(1), 21–24. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.214991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairlie, RW (2005) An Extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Technique to Logit and Probit Models. Journal of Economic and Social Measurement 30(4), 305–316. URL: https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/1917/an-extension-of-the-blinder-oaxaca-decomposition-technique-to-logit-and-probit-models (accessed 26 September 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghosh, R, Mozumdar, A, Chattopadhyay, A and Acharya, R (2021) Mass media exposure and use of reversible modern contraceptives among married women in India: An analysis of the NFHS 2015–16 data. PLoS One 16(7), e0254400. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gizzo, S, Bertocco, A, Saccardi, C, Di Gangi, S, Litta, PS, D’Antona, D and Nardelli, GB (2014) Female sterilization: Update on clinical efficacy, side effects and contraindications. Minimally Invasive Therapy 23(5), 261–270. doi: 10.3109/13645706.2014.901975.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Government of India (2014) India’s ‘Vision FP 2020’. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi. URL: https://fp2030.org/sites/default/files/Indias-Vision-FP2020.pdf (accessed 23 August 2021).Google Scholar
Harkavy, O and Roy, K (2007) Emergence of the Indian National Family Planning Program. In Robinson, WC and Ross, JA (eds) The Global Family Planning Revolution: Three Decades of Population Policies and Programs. The World Bank, Washington D. C., pp. 301–324.Google Scholar
IIPS and ICF (2017) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
IIPS and ICF (2021) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
IIPS and Macro International (2007) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 2005-06: India: Volume I. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
Koenig, MA, Hossain, MB and Whittaker, M (1997) The influence of quality of care upon contraceptive use in rural Bangladesh. Studies in Family Planning 28(4), 278–289. doi: 10.2307/2137859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, A, Gautam, A, Dey, A, Saith, R, Achyut, P, Gautam, V, Agarwal, D, Chakraverty, A, Mozumdar, A, Aruldas, K and Verma, R (2020) Infection prevention preparedness and practices for female sterilisation services within primary care facilities in Northern India. BMC Health Services Research 20, 1–8. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4778-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maharatna, A (2002) India’s Family Planning Programme: An Unpleasant Essay. Economic and Political Weekly 37(10), 971–981. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4411847 (accessed 11 September 2021).Google Scholar
Marriott, A and Sanchez, J (1998) The Integration of Family Planning and Development Activities in India. Geography 83(3), 237–245. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40573210 (accessed 28 July, 2021).Google Scholar
McDougal, L, Singh, A, Kumar, K, Dehingia, N, Barros, AJD, Ewerling, F, Atmavilas, Y, Raj, A. (2021) Planning for work: Exploring the relationship between contraceptive use and women’s sector-specific employment in India. PLoS One. 16(3), e0248391. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mohanty, SK, Mishra, S, Chatterjee, S and Saggurti, N (2020) Pattern and correlates of out-of-pocket payment (OOP) on female sterilisation in India, 1990–2014. BMC Women’s Health 20(13), 1–13. doi: 10.1186/s12905-020-0884-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patel, P (2017) Forced Sterilisation of Women as Discrimination. Public Health Reviews 38, 15. doi: 10.1186/s40985-017-0060-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pradhan, MR, Patel, SK and Saraf, AA (2020) Informed choice in modern contraceptive method use: pattern and predictors among young women in India. Journal of Biosocial Science 52(6), 846–859. doi: 10.1017/S0021932019000828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pradhan, MR and Ram, U (2009) Female sterilisation and ethical issues: The Indian experience. Social Change 39(3), 365–387. doi: 10.1177/004908570903900303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RamaRao, S, Lacuesta, M, Costello, M, Pangolibay, B and Jones, H (2003) The link between quality of care and contraceptive use. International Family Planning Perspectives 29(2), 76–83. doi: 10.2307/3181061.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rana, MJ and Jain, AK (2020) Do Indian women receive adequate information about contraception? Journal of Biosocial Science 52(3), 338–352. doi: 10.1017/S0021932019000488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reed, E, Donta, B, Dasgupta, A, Ghule, M, Battala, M, Nair, S, Silverman, J, Jadhav, A, Palaye, P, Saggurti, N and Raj, A (2016) Access to money and relation to women’s use of family planning methods among young married women in rural India. Maternal Child Health Journal 20(6), 1203–1210. doi: 10.1007/s10995-016-1921-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sharma, DC (2014) India’s Sterilisation Scandal. The Lancet 384(9961), 68–69. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62224-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, A, Ogollah, R, Ram, F and Pallikadavath, S (2012) Sterilisation Regret Among Married Women in India: Implications for the Indian National Family Planning Program. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 38(4), 187–195. doi: 10.1363/3818712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, P, Singh, KK and Singh, P (2021) Factors Explaining the Dominion Status of Female Sterilisation in India Over the Past Two Decades (1992-2016): A Multilevel Study. PLOS ONE 16(3), e0246530. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srinivasan, K (2006) Population Policies and Family Planning Programmes in India: A Review and Recommendations. International Institute for Population Sciences Newsletter 47(1-2), 6–44.Google Scholar
Tumlinson, K, Pence, BW, Curtis, SL, Marshall, SW and Speizer, IS (2015) Quality of Care and Contraceptive Use in Urban Kenya. International Perspective on Sexual and Reproductive Health 41(2), 69–79. doi: 10.1363/4106915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wale, J and Rowlands, S (2020) Incentivised sterilisation: lessons from India and for the future. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care 25(4), 314–318. doi: 10.1080/13625187.2020.1766015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed