The Effect of Counseling on Sterilization Acceptance by High-Parity Women in Nigeria "A sterilization rate of 13 percent among high-parity women ... may not seem impressive when compared to the worldwide prevalence of voluntary female sterilization. However, it is notable among Nigerian women.... "

Summary To inform women of the risks associated with high parity and to increase understanding of birth control methods, especially voluntary surgical contraception, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital launched a family planning and education program for pregnant women who had had four or more previous deliveries. More than 1,000 high-parity women admitted for prenatal care during a 19-month period were randomly allocated either to a treatment group exposed to four individualized counseling sessions on family planning methods and the health risks associated with high parity or to a control group that received only the standard family planning information provided at the prenatal clinic. Overall, 71 percent of the women in the treatment group were using an effective method of birth control at six weeks postpartum, compared with 51 percent of the women in the control group. About 40 percent of women in both groups had indicated at admission that they did not want more children, but women in the treatment group were significantly more likely to choose female sterilization as their postpartum contraceptive method than women