Objectives:The objective of this study was to investigate the existing pattern ofcontraceptive use among postpartum women in urban areas of China.Method:A hospital based longitudinal study was carried out in Zibo city,Shandongprovince of China from June 1996 to November 1997.Both quantitative and qualitativeresearch approaches were used.This report mainly deals with the quantitative data.Qualitative data provided insights into the behavior of breastfeeding and contraceptiveuse,which helped to understand the perceptions and behavior of people and communityin this area.Information was obtained from 496 new parturient women who gave birthin the five district hospitals where they first were interviewed.They were then fol-lowed-up three timings for interview at 42 days,four months and one year after deliv-ery,respectively.Structured interview questionnaires filled out by trained interviewers.Total subjects of 492 women were for analysis in this paper.Results:The results showed that 74.4% of women were using contraceptive meth-ods when they resuming the first sexual activity after delivery.During postpartum peri-od,the majority of women interviewed used condom within 3 months,for instance,at 3months after delivery,there were still 84.5% of women use condom.Afterwards,mostof them switched to IUD.Life table analysis shows that the continuation rates of fullbreastfeeding,abstinence,amenorrhea and acceptance of contraceptive methods at 4months after delivery were 35.5%,68.2%,5.0%,and 86.3%,respectively.Conclusion:The policy implications of this study are that contraceptive services andinformation for postpartum women in urban areas need to be improved further.Thecontraceptive methods providing for postpartum women should have more methods to letwomen choose and instead of only one method for all of postpartum women. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the existing pattern of contraceptive use among postpartum women in urban areas of China. Method: A hospital based longitudinal study was carried out in Zibo city, Shandong province from China from June 1996 to November 1997.Both quantitative and qualitativeresearch approaches were used.This report mainly deals with the quantitative data.Qualitative data provided insights into the behavior of breastfeeding and contraceptiveuse, which helped to understand the perceptions and behavior of people and communityin this area. Information was obtained from 496 new parturient women who gave birth in the five district hospitals where they first were interviewed. They were then fol-lowed-up three timings for interview at 42 days, four months and one year after deliv-ery, respectively. Structured interview questionnaires filled out by trained interviewers. Total subjects of 492 women were for analysis in this paper. Results: The results showed that 74.4% of women were using contraceptive meth-ods when they resuming the first sexual activity after delivery. Serving postpartum peri-od, the majority of women interviewed used condom within 3 months, for instance, at 3months after delivery, there were still 84.5% of women use Condom. Afterwards, most of them switched to IUD. Life table analysis shows that the continuation rates of fullbreastfeeding, abstinence, amenorrhea and acceptance of contraceptive methods at 4months after delivery were 35.5%, 68.2%, 5.0%, and 86.3%, respectively.Conclusion : The policy implications of this study are that contraceptive services and information for postpartum women in urban areas need to be further further. The contracting methods providing for postpartum women should have more methods to letwomen choose and instead of only one method for all of the postpartum women.