Use Of Services For Family Planning And Infertility United States

The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, and designed to produce national estimates of statistics on fertility, family planning, and aspects of maternal and child health that are closely related to childbearing. This report presents statistics based on data collected in the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth on the use of services for family planning and infertility by women between the ages of 15 and 44 years of age who had ever had sexual intercourse. Data is provided on the following aspects of family planning and infertility services: (1) the percent of persons who had ever made a family planning visit, age at first visit, and services received at first visit; (2) visits in the last 3 years, by type of service provider, kinds of services received, and source of payment; and (3) infertility services, including type of services received and most recent source. The percent who used services is shown by race, Hispanic origin, age, and selected socioeconomic characteristics. Users of services are shown by the source of the service and socioeconomic characteristics. Twenty-one detailed data tables are included. Technical notes, definitions of terms, and Section E of the Under 25 questionnaire are appended. (NB)

Experts estimate that nearly 60 percent of all U.S. pregnanciesâ€"and 81 percent of pregnancies among adolescentsâ€"are unintended. Yet the topic of preventing these unintended pregnancies has long been treated gingerly because of personal sensitivities and public controversies, especially the angry debate over abortion. Additionally, child welfare advocates long have overlooked the connection between pregnancy planning and the improved well-being of families and communities that results when children are wanted. Now, current issuesâ€"health care and welfare reform, and the new international focus on populationâ€"are drawing attention to the consequences of unintended pregnancy. In this climate The Best Intentions offers a timely exploration of family planning issues from a distinguished panel of experts. This committee sheds much-needed light on the questions and controversies surrounding unintended pregnancy. The book offers specific recommendations to put the United States on par with other developed nations in terms of contraceptive attitudes and policies, and it considers the effectiveness of over 20 pregnancy prevention programs. The Best Intentions explores problematic definitionsâ€""unintended" versus "unwanted" versus "mistimed"â€"and presents data on pregnancy rates and trends. The book also summarizes the health and social consequences of unintended pregnancies, for both men and women, and for the children they bear. Why does unintended pregnancy occur? In discussions of "reasons behind the rates," the book examines Americans' ambivalence about sexuality and the many other social, cultural, religious, and economic factors that affect our approach to contraception. The committee explores the complicated web of peer pressure, life aspirations, and notions of romance that shape an individual's decisions about sex, contraception, and pregnancy. And the book looks at such practical issues as the attitudes of doctors toward birth control and the place of contraception in both health insurance and "managed care." The Best Intentions offers frank discussion, synthesis of data, and policy recommendations on one of today's most sensitive social topics. This book will be important to policymakers, health and social service personnel, foundation executives, opinion leaders, researchers, and concerned individuals.

These four papers supplement the book Contraception and Reproduction: Health Consequences for Women and Children in the Developing World by bringing together data and analyses that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in a single source. The topics addressed are an analysis of the relationship between maternal mortality and changing reproductive patterns; the risks and benefits of contraception; the effects of changing reproductive patterns on infant health; and the psychosocial consequences to women of controlled fertility and contraceptive use.