Fertility levels down in 5 states due to contraception: survey

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Fertility levels have declined in the states of Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab due to greater use of modern contraception and increase in the age of marriage.

According to preliminary findings from the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the third in a series of national surveys conducted by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the proportion of children who die in the first year of life has dropped substantially in the past seven years in all the five states.

Indicating a marked improvement in several health and family welfare indicators in the past seven years, the findings reveal that the most rapid increase in contraceptive use in this period among the five states have been in Chhattisgarh from 45 per cent to 53 per cent and Gujarat from 59 per cent to 67 per cent.

The median age at first birth ranges from 18.8 years in Chhattisgarh to 21.4 years in Punjab. Antenatal care is almost universal, mothers receive some antenatal care for 87-93 per cent of births, but only 55-75 per cent of women receive antenatal care at the recommended rate of atleast three times during their pregnancies.

Institutional births have been steadily increasing over time in all states except Chhattisgarh, where there has been only a slight increase in the last seven years.

Simultaneously, the proportion of infant deaths in the first year of life has also dropped substantially in all five states.

Impressive gains in immunisation coverage have been made in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, but in Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat, there has been a substantial deterioration in full immunisation coverage in the last seven years, due to a decline in vaccination coverage for both DPT and polio. Diarrhoea continues to be a major health issue for many children in these states.

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