There were raised eyebrows when Chiang Chien-tai accepted the post of director of the Taipei Family Planning Promotion Center (TFPPC) some two years ago. It seemed too great a sacrifice for a clinician and lecturer at the College of Medicine at the National Taiwan University (NTU) to make. Her subsequent achievements in spreading family planning concepts, however, led to her selection as one of the 10 outstanding women in the Republic of China.

After graduating from the NTU College of Medicine, Chiang became a physician with the department of gynecology and obstetrics at the NTU hospital. Since starting her career, she has continuously read research papers to keep herself up-to-date in medical knowledge.

For instance, she uses the latest supersonic wave method to check the health of unborn babies or to detect tumors in the womb. She has published several articles on her research work, which have won great acclaim.

In November 1977, she was recommended by her teachers to take the challenging job at TFPPC based on her understanding of contraceptive theory and practice.

Statistics show that since 1977, the population of Taiwan has increased at a rate of 1.8 percent a year, low compared with developing countries, but high compared with developed ones. This represents a 300,000 rise annually, meaning that the population will double to 34 million in the year 2014. Food and other necessities will also have to be doubled if the current high living standards are to be maintained. Since the land area of Taiwan is limited, however, the quality of life will certainly be lowered.

The Taipei Family Planning Promotion Center was inaugurated in July 1972, in an attempt to keep the soaring birth rate in check. But the traditional Chinese concepts of "to have many descendants is an assurance of longevity and bliss," and "to fail to produce a male heir is the gravest offense against filial piety" and others meant that the money and labor was expended to no avail.

On the China mainland, which also has problems of over-population, the Communists have adopted inhuman birth control measures. For instance, students are forced to leave universities or technical schools if they get married. On the birth of a third child, parents must forfeit a tenth of their salaries until the child is 16 years old. Those who marry without the government's approval are labeled as "black elements," along with their children. One report even said that heads of people's communes on the China mainland had demanded that all women having a second child must be induced to give birth prematurely.

Chiang said: "The contraceptive measures enforced by totalitarian countries are inhuman. We would rather spend our time and effort making people aware of the seriousness of the population problem, and of its impact on the quality of their future life."

The center uses moderate and progressive measures to help the public understand the benefits of family planning and correct contraceptive methods.

Since taking up her post, Chiang has introduced many effective family planning methods, with special emphasis on postnatal contraceptive education. Free pamphlets on family planning include information on theory, practice, possible side effects and prices of contraceptives. A special telephone line has been set up for inquiries.

In addition, nurses or workers at the center have been sent to 16 hospitals in Taipei to offer free advice on family planning programs. Follow-up interviews are conducted to ensure that no one has suffered from any side effects, and that the contraception program has been carried out thoroughly.

According to TFPPC statistics, in the 10 months from September 1978 to June 1979, 72 percent of lying-in women in hospitals had accepted education from workers at the Center, greatly reducing births of unwanted babies.

Another of Chiang's innovations is "postnatal correspondence." Workers at the center collect the names and addresses of all lying-in women, and then write a letter to congratulate them and introduce them to contraceptive services. These include free installation of the loop in public hospitals, subsidies for male and female sterilization, low-price contraceptives and others.

Since its inception, the TFPPC has suffered two severe setbacks. One occurred in 1976, the year of Dragon, when a sudden flood of babies resulted from the superstition that a son born in such a propitious year would have a promising future. Another baby boom occurred in 1979, because of a belief that those who married in 1979 would be doomed to separate. Consequently, there was a spate of marriages in 1978, and babies arrived in record numbers the following year.

Chiang has never become frustrated, however. She says: "The Chinese obsession with a male heir sometimes makes them blind to the fact that over-population will cancel out economic expansion, increase pressure on living space, overtax medical facilities and cut down on educational opportunities. But we believe that some day, the correct concept of family planning will be implanted in everybody's mind."

Chiang also opposes penalties such as higher fees for delivering the third baby, or canceling paid maternity leave. She is, however, in favor of voluntary abortion for women who have already had more than two children.

Apart from her work at the family planning promotion center, Chiang Chien-tai holds an outpatient clinic at the NTU hospital once a week, and is also a lecturer at the NTU medical school. Above all, she is a good wife and mother in a happy family of her own. Under her guidance, the concept of family planning will spread to every corner of Taiwan in the future.

[Picture Caption]

Chiang Chien-tai explains family planning projects with the aid of a map of Taipei.

As a physician with the department of gynecology and obstetrics at the NTU hospital, Chiang convinces her employee of the importance of contraceptive theory and practice for the public.

As a physician with the department of gynecology and obstetrics at the NTU hospital, Chiang convinces her employee of the importance of contraceptive theory and practice for the public.