Objectives: 1) To find out prevalence of contraceptive use & unmet need for contraception & reasons thereof in rural area. 2) To assess the impact of interventional measures among unmet need groups. Methodology: Community based interventional study was carried out in Rural area - Parol Primary Health Centre, District Thane, Maharashtra state among women of reproductive age groups who were selected by stratified simple random sampling technique. Systematically planned interventional measures (counseling, health education & audio-visual shows) were directed for unmet need groups, husbands & their family members by ANMs during the study period & thereafter. Follow-up visits were made to unmet need groups to assess the impact of interventions. Results: Prevalence of unmet need for contraception was 44.1%; for spacing-23.7% & for limiting-17.1%. Most common unmet need reasons for contraception were related to its side-effect (36.3%) followed by contraceptive methods i.e not knowing different contraceptive methods, their usage & source (24.4%). Fertility related reasons (desire for more children/male child) & health concern reasons were mentioned by 23.8% & 21.3% women respectively. 18.8% women stated family planning staff doesn’t give information about all available contraceptive methods, method of their use & their source. Disapproval by family members was mentioned by 15.6% women & 3.1% said that source of obtaining contraceptive method is out of their reach. After interventions, unmet needs for contraception were significantly reduced to 14.3% from 44.1%. Statistical Analysis: SPSS 11.0 version, Chi-square & Z test. Conclusion: Intensified, well planned interventional measures reduce unmet need of contraception.

Article summary: Article Focus & Key words:
•    Rural area
•    Unmet needs reasons for contraception
•    Impact of Intervention on reducing unmet need reasons & increasing contraceptive use.
Strengths of the study: Rural based interventional study wherein all remote areas are also covered.

Keywords: Women of reproductive age group; Unmet need for contraception; Intervention; Rural area.