Abstract

Background: Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) continue to be an underutilized spacing method with a high non-compliance rate, the reasons for which still needs to be explored.

Objective: To assess the awareness, attitudes, and beliefs about the pills and to study the occurrence of side effects among former users of the pills.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary care centre of Gujarat state during August 2015 to December 2015. Postnatal mothers admitted in the hospital during the study period and who had previously used one or more cycles of OCPs for the purpose of family planning were interviewed for study purpose.

Result: Of the 84 mothers interviewed, over one-fifth (22%) of them were not provided any counseling before prescribing OCP. Although over 80% of the mothers reported to be satisfied with OCP use, only 61% of the mothers agreed to use it again if needed and even less than half of the mothers were ready to take it for prolonged period of time. Over one thirds of the mothers (36.90%) believed that OCPs were stored in the body and there was a need to take a break after continuous use of 6 months or more. Over half of the former users of OCPs did not know what to do if they missed one or two consecutive pills in a cycle. Residence, education standards, past history of abortion, and duration of use of OCPs significantly affected the knowledge scores of the mothers.

Conclusion: The study participants had poor knowledge, several myths, and an unfavorable attitude toward pill use. Periodic counseling of the users of OCPs is needed to address their beliefs and concerns about pill use which will improve their compliance.

Key words: Awareness, attitude, beliefs, side effects, oral contraceptives