Do Indian women know about and use the emergency contraceptive pill? An analysis of nationally representative data from 2005–06 and 2019–21

The emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) is a post-coital contraceptive method that prevents unintended pregnancy and is useful in specific circumstances. This study examined the awareness and use of the ECP in India, as there is scarce evidence in this area to guide policy development. This study used data from the 2005–06 (n = 124 385) and 2019–21 (n = 724 115) rounds of the National Family Health Survey of India. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were applied to explore how demographic characteristics including age, education (none, primary, secondary, higher), wealth quintile, place of residence (urban, rural), marital status, parity, desire for children, whether current pregnancy was wanted, whether the women had had an abortion in the past 5 years, and whether current use of contraceptive methods affected the likelihood of knowledge and use of ECP. In the past 15 years, knowledge of ECP has increased by 37 percentage points but still remains relatively low at 48%. Less than 1% of the sample (0.55%) used ECP. Women aged 30–34 years, from wealthier and more educated backgrounds, living in urban areas, and currently using condoms had a higher likelihood of using ECP in comparison with women from age group 15–19 years, those from the poorest backgrounds, those with no education, those living in rural areas and those not using any contraceptive method, respectively. In comparison to married women, never-married women exhibited a higher awareness of ECP but lower use. More efforts must be made to improve awareness of the ECP, especially among adolescents, those with less education, poorer women and those in rural areas. The government is taking steps to improve access to ECP, and India’s female community health workers, the ASHAs, could be further supported to enhance awareness of ECP.