Changes in contraceptive use in Bulgaria, 1995-2000.

Comparison of results from national surveys conducted in Bulgaria in 1995 and 2000 reveal little overall change in use of modern contraceptives. Dramatic increases occurred, however, among women younger than 25 who entered their reproductive period after the end of the state socialist period. This finding suggests that contraceptive gains in the country will come largely as a cohort-replacement process. From these data, no separate program impact appears for special clinics established to provide direct, subsidized delivery of modern contraceptives to women in selected cities. The special clinics opened in cities where contraceptive use was already above the national average. During these five years, other cities lacking special clinics managed to gain in prevalence of modern contraceptive use, leaving a relatively homogenous urban-rural difference in levels of use throughout the country.