Field test of simple, foam-producing chemical contraceptive

Some of the problems of family planning among persons of low economic status and limited educational background are discussed. The results of laboratory and clinical tests and field trials of a highly spermicidal foaming liquid and sponge in such a population using the public health services in a rural area in Jamaica, West Indies, are presented. The method was found to be acceptable, practical, and effective. The costs are very low. The usual pregnancy rate in this population is between 70 and 80 per hundred years of woman exposure. Among those using the method the rate dropped to 4.2 pregnancies per hundred exposure years (AU)