Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS

FERTILITY PREFERENCESNEED FOR FAMILY PLANNING—CURRENTLY MARRIED WOMENStatistics: Percentages of Currently Married Women with a) Unmet Need for FamilyPlanning, b) with Met Need for Family Planning, and c) by Total Demand forFamily Planning, According to Whether for Spacing, for Limiting, and TotalDefinitionA. Coverage:1. Population base: Currently married women.2. Time period: Time of survey.Fecundity—A woman is assumed to be fecund unless she declares that she is infecund, had ahysterectomy, or is menopausic. Also considered infecund is a woman who is neither pregnant norpostpartum amenorrheic but who has not had a menstruation for six or more months. Also infecund arewomen who, while married and not using contraception during the past five years, have not had a birthand are not currently pregnant.B. Numerators—Number of women with an unmet need for contraception1. For spacing—Number of women who are not using a method of contraception, anda) are fecund and say they want to wait two or more years for their next birth, orb) are fecund and are unsure whether they want another child, orc) are fecund, want another child, but are unsure when to have the birth, and say that apregnancy in the next few weeks would be a problem, ord) are pregnant not due to a contraceptive failure and who say that the pregnancy wasmistimed (would have wanted to wait), ore) are postpartum amenorrheic within six months of the birth and say that the birth wasmistimed (would have wanted to wait).2. For limiting—Number of women who are not using a method of contraception, anda) are fecund and say they do not want any more children, orb) are pregnant not due to a contraceptive failure and say that they did not want to becomepregnant, orc) are postpartum amenorrheic within six months of the birth and say that they did not wantthe birth.3. Number of women currently using a method of contraception.Guide to DHS Statistics 78 Updated September 2006