[Men participation in contraception according to women's perspective]. / Participação masculina na contracepção pela ótica feminina.

OBJECTIVE: To identify women's perceptions on men's participation in contraception. METHODS: Home interviews in the southern region of the city of S. Paulo, SP, Brazil, were carried out. The participant sample was of 254 female users of reversible contraceptive methods, who claimed to have sexual partners at moment of the interview. Statistical analysis of the demographic variables and content analysis techniques of the open questions were performed. RESULTS: In 78.8% of the cases, the contraceptive method of choice was of exclusive female use (pills, injectable, IUD, diaphragm). In spite of the high prevalence of female contraceptive methods, 82.7% of the participants asserted that their male partners were active participants in the contraception, which shows a discrepancy between the method used and their perception on men's participation. The main categories concerning women's perceptions on men's participation in contraception were: men support for the women to use female contraceptive methods and the occasional use by men of male contraceptive method when a woman needs to temporarily interrupt the use of her current contraceptive method. CONCLUSIONS: Women perceive men's participation in contraception as a support for them to use contraceptive methods that are highly efficient. The partner's support may be translated by buying the contraceptive pills, reminding the woman of taking them or expressing their opinion about the desired number of children. Women see contraception as an activity of her responsibility and their partners have an auxiliary role.

[Women and contraception: knowledge and use of contraceptive methods]. / Mulher e anticoncepção: conhecimento e uso de métodos anticoncepcionais.

This article analyzes knowledge and use of contraceptive methods in women ages 10 to 49 years residing in the southern region of the city of São Paulo in 1992. A total of 1,157 childbearing-age women were studied, focusing on variables that might define them as to: knowledge in the use of contraceptive methods and reasons for choosing a given method. We observed that 86% of the women referred knowledge of some contraceptive method, while the most common was the pill (95.3%), followed by condoms (92.6%). Meanwhile, 14% of the interviewees denied knowledge of any contraceptive method. Of the sexually active women (66.4%), 34.9% reported never having used contraceptive methods. Of those who had, 35.3% used the pill, while 42.9% had resorted to sterilization. Only 5.2% used condoms. Despite the high level of knowledge concerning contraceptive methods, especially oral contraceptives and condoms, we observed limited use of same as compared to the high sterilization rate around the age of 27, thus leaving contraception limited to the pill and female sterilization.