Study Shows Partner Support for Contraception Affects Usage Among Married Cambodian Women

Guttmacher News Release: PARTNER ATTITUDES A MAJOR FACTOR IN CONTRACEPTIVE USE BY MARRIED CAMBODIAN WOMEN:

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina and Population Services International finds that partner support for contraception—or lack thereof—has a very strong influence on married Cambodian women’s contraceptive use. Authors Ghazaleh Samandari and colleagues analyzed the relationship between attitudes of partners, elders and peers and contraceptive use among married Cambodian women aged 15–49 who wished to delay childbirth. According to their findings, the influence of these groups’ views, whether for or against contraceptive use, depended on how many children the women already had.

More than half (58%) of the 706 women the authors surveyed in 2007 reported not using a modern contraceptive method, although virtually all of them had at least some knowledge of modern methods and where to obtain them. . . .