Family Planning in Bangladesh: An Unlikely Success Story

The 1989 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS) was the most recent and most comprehensive of 5 national surveys conducted approximately biennially since 1979. The survey used a 2-stage probability sample design. 80 urban and 120 rural sample areas were randomly selected from areas with populations of 150-500 households. Interviews were completed with 11607 ever-married women younger than 50 between April 1989 and July 1989. The 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS) was designed to measure current fertility and its proximate determinants. Using a 2-stage probability sample design the 1989 BFS interviewed 11906 ever-married women in 100 urban and 175 rural areas from December 1988 through April 1989. Direct estimates from the 1989 BFS yielded TFRs of about 7 live births per woman…