High Prevalence of Traditional Methods and Unwanted Pregnancies: Barriers to Obtaining Family Planning Services in the Philippines

Fatima Juarez, El Colegio de México
Josefina V. Cabigon, University of the Philippines

Evidence indicates that Filipino women increasingly want fewer children than they have. Moreover, they rely heavily on traditional methods -about half of married women use contraception and 40% of users rely on traditional methods. The Philippines has a high level of unintended pregnancy (55% of all pregnancies) and induced abortion (a rate of 27 per 1,000 women 15–44), a significant proportion of traditional methods use and switching from modern to traditional method. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to explore to what extent traditional method use contributes to unwanted pregnancy; (2) to estimate the extent of switching from modern to traditional methods and vice-versa; and (3) to explore factors associated with women contraceptive use. The main data source is the 2004 National Survey of Women, specially collected and designed to investigate unplanned pregnancies, abortion-seeking processes and barriers to contraceptive use (N=4,094); Demographic and Heath Surveys (1993, 1998, 2003) are also used.