Parents and Family Planning Services

Parents and Family Planning Services focuses on parentsof a sample of newborns in twelve areas of England andWales during the 1970s. The parents were asked abouttheir contraceptive practices, attitudes toward differentmethods of birth control, and opinions of-and experiencewith-different types of services. General practitioners,health visitors, and doctors at family planning clinicswere interviewed about their views and practices. Thisjuxtaposition of the attitudes of parents and professionalshighlights the reasons why people do not use effectivemethods of birth control, and leads to suggestions as tohow they could be helped to do so.Several chapters discuss fathers’ attitudes and actions,the views of parents and professionals, and the influence ofreligion, social class, education, and geographic location.The final chapter is concerned with possible changes incontraceptive habits, and the ways in which services candevelop to help more women avoid unwanted pregnancies.The work has ongoing policy implications, and alsoindicates how attitudes and change evolve over time.Parents and Family Planning Services is predicated onthe assumption that unwanted fertility is to be avoided.It underscores the need for a proliferation of differentsorts of services: more clinics, an increase in the help andadvice given at hospitals, the development of a supportiveand integrated home service. This volume is a significantcontribution to the literature in this vital field. It remainsessential reading for both professionals and concernedpolicy personnel, particularly those interested in theevolution of policy and practice.