Title: [Why female sterilization in Latin America]

POPLINE Document Number: 784776

Author(s):

Viel B

Source citation:

In: Asociacion Demografica Salvadorena. Primer Seminario Regional Latinoamericano sobre la Limitacion Permanente de la Fecundidad y sus Efectos en la Salud. San Salvador, El Salvador, December 6-8, 1978. San Salvador, El Salvador, Asociacion Demografica Salvadorena and Proyecto Internacional de Federaciones para Esterilizacion Voluntaria, 1978. :51-67.

Abstract:

Data gathered all over Latin America, but especially in Chile, show that pregnancy and delivery before 20 and after 35 entail serious risks not only for the mother, but also for the child during its first year of life. The same data shows that at every age parity over 4 augments the risk of mortality for a new child. Such phenomenon is more serious in rural areas, where medical facilities are scarce, and in the lower socioeconomic classes of the urban population. It can be concluded that avoiding pregnancy before 20 and over 35, and avoiding multiparity would result in a decrease in infant and maternal mortality. Hormonal contraception and the IUD are not 100% effective and can have serious side effects, especially if one considers the fact that most women should rely on the pill or the IUD for about 25 years of their life, which no doctor would recommend. Female sterilization appears to be the best contraceptive method at least for those women who have reached their desired family size. Female sterilization is still illegal in most Latin American countries; this fact increments the use of illegal abortion as a contraceptive measure, with all its negative consequences.

Keywords:

Chile
Maternal Age
Maternal Mortality
Infant Mortality
Parity
Birth Rate
Rural Population
Urban Population
Socioeconomic Status
Female Sterilization
Abortion
South America, Southern
South America
Latin America
Americas
Developing Countries
Parental Age
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Mortality
Population Dynamics
Fertility Measurements
Fertility
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors
Sterilization, Sexual
Family Planning
Fertility Control, Postconception