The modified mucus method in India

Abstract

The modified mucus method-Prajanan Jagriti (fertility awakening) is intended to serve the cultural needs of illiterate and semilliterate women. Over 10 months, 3003 women in northern India were taught the modified mucus method. There were a total of 42 pregnancies in 24,702 cycles for a Pearl index of 2.04. High effectiveness is attributed to the support that was provided to clients by the instructor.

PIP: Prajanan Jagriti, a modified mucus method designed to fit the cultural needs of illiterate and semiliterate women with low status within the family, has enabled poor Indian women who cannot be reached with other methods of fertility control to plan their families. Although based on the observation of cervical mucus, this simplified method does not require its user to chart her menstrual cycle and demands fewer days of abstinence than traditional natural family planning (NFP) methods. In a 10-month period, 3003 women from North India, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh received structured teaching of the application of Prajanan Jagriti and supportive counseling from female village leaders. To ensure a thorough grasp of NFP concepts, only 10 women were instructed per month by each of the 37 village woman leaders, who were in turn supervised by 12 cluster coordinators from the Training and Action Pilot Project for non-Catholics. All 3003 women completed the first 3 months of training, and there were no unplanned pregnancies in the first month. In the 10 month study period, there were 42 unplanned pregnancies, for a Pearl index of 2.04. The main risk factor associated with these pregnancies was having no living child. Also contributing to method failure were cultural pressures to produce children, poor intraspouse communication, difficulties abstaining from sexual relations on the part of husbands, and the longer fertile period among younger women. Overall, however, project staff reported a high level of motivation on the part of these acceptors and a responsiveness to the shorter period of abstinence required by this modified method.