ABSTRACT
Family limitation and contraception have been at most only partly under formal medical control. The development and popularization of methods which require medical assistance, such as the diaphragm, and advice in choosing among the methods available, probably contribute to the growing awareness of contraception as something one should discuss with a physician. Among Protestants the practice of consulting with an OB-Gyn specialist at a premarital examination is quite common; among Catholics this kind of discussion tends to be delayed until later in the marriage when family limitation or spacing become real issues. The Negro effectives are most likely to have contact with private specialists or with Planned Parenthood; Negro ineffectives are most likely to have had medical discussions in the hospital. It would seem, then, that the postpartum discussions lower class women have in hospitals are not particularly useful in directing them toward effective contraception.
