The short explanation
A range of methods is provided free through public health facilities under the National Health Mission — condoms, oral contraceptive pills, emergency contraceptive pills, the intrauterine device including immediately after childbirth, sterilisation, and the injectable contraceptive; the implant has been introduced in some states. What is actually available depends on your state and on the individual facility.
What depends on your situation
The parts of this that change from woman to woman. Uncertainty is stated, not hidden.
- Delivery runs through sub-centres, primary health centres, community health centres and district hospitals, with ASHA workers distributing some methods at community level. The nearest facility is the place that can tell you what it has.
- Free does not mean unsupported. Counselling should come with any method, and you are entitled to ask the same questions about suitability, side effects and removal that you would ask anywhere else.
- Availability is not uniform. A method listed in a national programme may not be stocked at your nearest centre on the day you go, and some methods have been rolled out state by state. Ringing ahead saves a journey.
- You can change your mind. A method fitted or started free can be removed or stopped, and nobody may require you to continue with one.
- AskHer cannot tell you what is available near you. No facility has been verified and listed on AskHer, and pointing a woman at a centre that does not stock what she needs is worse than saying so.
What this answer cannot determine
The boundary of online education. These need a clinician who can see you.
- This cannot tell you what your nearest facility stocks, its hours, or what it will ask for. Only that facility can.
- This cannot tell you which method is suitable for you.
- Scheme coverage changes. Treat this as a description of what the national programme provides, not as a guarantee about today.
- This explanation was written by AskHer's editorial team from the guidance listed under Sources. A clinician registered in India has not signed this version off yet — that is why no clinical reviewer is named at the foot of this page, and it is why nothing here is a diagnosis.
Questions for your clinician
Take these with you. You can add any of them to an appointment card.
- Which methods do you have available here today?
- Is there a charge for anything, including the consultation or any tests?
- Given my medical history, which of these are suitable for me?
- If I want this removed or want to change, how do I do that and is it free?
- Do I need to bring anything or register in advance?
When to seek help
Clinician-approved guidance for this topic. When in doubt, being seen is never the wrong choice.
Get help the same day
- you have had unprotected sex in the last five days and do not want to be pregnant — emergency contraception is available at government facilities and over the counter, and every day matters
Book an appointment soon
- you are using no method and do not want to be pregnant
- you cannot afford the method you were prescribed privately
- you want a method removed and have been told you must keep it
Sources
The evidence this explanation is built on.
- Family Planning National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Family Planning guidelines National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Contraceptive choices for birth spacing National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India
Who wrote and reviewed this
Every AskHer answer names its author. A clinically reviewed answer also names the clinician who signed it off — if no clinician is named below, it has not been clinically reviewed.
- Author
- AskHer Editorial AskHer's editorial team — not an individual clinician Works in English, தமிழ், हिन्दी
- Clinical reviewer
- Nobody yet No clinician has signed this answer off. That is what the “Editorially reviewed” badge means, and why it does not say “Clinically reviewed”. It was written and checked by AskHer’s editorial team against the sources listed above, and it is queued for a clinician who works in this area.
- Review status
- Editorially reviewed
- Last reviewed
- Last reviewed 28 August 2026
- Version
- 1
Correction history
Substantive changes are listed, not quietly edited away.
No corrections have been made since this answer was first published.
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