Post–partum sterilization in Sao Paulo state, Brazil

Abstract

This paper examines the accessibility of post-partum sterilization at five hospitals in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Of the women who planned sterilization 60% were sterilized. Services were not equally available to all women. While caesarean sections accounted for an extremely high percentage of deliveries at these hospitals, this type of delivery, and concurrent sterilizations, are not equally available to all women who indicated a desire to be sterilized. Since poor women are less likely to have caesarean deliveries, their access to sterilization is limited.