The status of family welfare in rural areas of District Wardha.

Data were collected in a house to house survey employing trained social workers from 19 villages selected through random sampling in 3 development blocks in Wardha. A total of 3348 couples with the female partners aged 15-44 were surveyed. An effective couple protection of 51.46% was found. Sterilization was the mainstay of the program being accepted by 46.12%. Among the acceptors of sterilization 86.2% had 3 or more children. Spacing methods were practiced only by 5.46% of the couples. A significantly higher number of couples in the lower socioeconomic groups have accepted family planning suggesting that with the right type of information a high degree of motivation can be achieved in the rural poor. In order to improve performance further attention to younger couples and emphasis on spacing methods is needed. (authors)