Preferences for contraceptive attributes: Voices of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Ten focus-group discussions on attributes of contraceptive methods were held in 1994 with 77 low-income women living in 10 neighborhoods in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The discussions indicated that the women strongly preferred highly effective contraceptives that would allow users to maintain regular monthly bleeding and that would not cause unpleasant side effects. Monthly bleeding was especially important to these women, since it provided reassurance that pregnancy had been prevented. Secrecy from partners was important to some, but not to the majority of women in the focus groups. Among the numerous obstacles to method acceptance identified were unwanted bleeding problems, partner's objections, fear that an irreversible method might produce intolerable side effects, concern that providers would insert a device without consent, fear of not being able to conceive quickly after stopping use and discomfort with having to interrupt intimacy or touch oneself to insert a method.