The major objec ti ve ofrndiscontin uation, reasons forrnABSTRACTrnthis study wasrndiscontinuationrntornandrnexamine contraceptivernme thad swi tching amongrnregistered modern family planning acceptors in one of the major urban centerrnof Ethiopia, Bahir-Dar . Using systematic sampling technique a total of 1000rnwomen were selected from 14245 women who for the first time visited one of thernfamily planning providing center in the town and a total of 907 respondentsrntvere interviewed for the present study. Three and halt years retrospectiverncontraceptive histories were collected for these women i n a monthly calendarrnof events. Single and multiple decrement life table technique are used tornanalyze the dynamics of contraceptives practice in the study population.rnThe finding shows that method specific 12- month discontinuation rates rangernfrom 43 . 8 percent for pill to 24.4 percent for injectable and IUD . For allrnmethods combined, 39 percent of users were likely to terminate within thernfirst year of use.rnSide eff eccs are the main reasons tor first year discont inuation of the pill,rnIUD, and injectable. Method change, on the other hand, i s the main rea son forrndisconti nua tion of ' other modern methods I such as condom and vaginal methods .rnFor all methods together side effects and the desire to get pregnane are therntwo main reasons for discontinua tion of can tracepti ve use. pri thin the firstrnyear of use about 13 percent and 9 percent of users, respectively, were likelyrnto t erminate use of a method as a resul t of these reasons. The 12-monthrncontraceptive failure rate is comparatively higher for the p il l (2 . 8 percent )rnthan ' other modern methods I (3 . 6 percent) and it ranges from 0 percent forrnin jectable and IUD to 3.6 percent for rather modern methods'. For all methodsrncombined the 12-month probability of discontinuation due to method failure isrn2. 0 percent, indicating that method failure is not a significant problem asrncompared to other categories of reasons in the populati on under study.rnThe likelihood of method change is highest among users of IUD and the lowestrnis observed among users of injectable . About 27 percent of IUD users and 19percent of inj ectable users were likely to switch methods within the secondrnyear of use . Switchers as a whole we r e most likely to switch their firstrnmethod to injectable.rnContraceptive discontinuation rates we r e also significantly different amongrnwomen wi th various socio-demographic characteristics . Discontinuation of arngiven contraceptive method is significantly influenced by age of acceptors,rnnumber of living children, additional children desired, contraceptive goal,rnand marital sta tus. However, educational level and type of occupation were notrnfound to have a signifi cant effect on the disc ontinuati on rate .rnBased on the major findings of the study, the paper indicates major ar eas ofrnpolicy and program interventions to improve the quality of family planningrnservices. Among others, a need to address the issue of contraceptive relatedrnside effects, maximize t he method mix, informing users about the proper usagernof oral c ontraceptive, Specialized training for all tJ'J.ose in the fieldrnparticularly to c ommunity agents and further study in tlJe area are suggested.