Two hundred and fifty four women of childbearing age, using reversible contraceptive methods and reporting to have sexual partners were interviewed in their houses, in the Southern region of São Paulo. The objective was to identifity how they define male participation in contraception, based on the perception of attitudes of their partners. Out of the 254 subjects, 82,7% mentioned their partners participated in the fertility regulation process, although 78,8% of them used female methods. This points out to a separation between the kind of contraceptive method used and the perception of these women of the male participation in regulating the couple fertility. It was observed that the predominating form of male participation in contraception was associated to support the high-efficacy female method used. It was also verified that women, according to their answers, consider contraception as their responsibility, and men play an accessory role, supporting this task.
contraception; contraceptive methods; fertility regulation; male participation; support