Health care access in the several social strata increases the demand for methods that ensure unflawed contraception. In this sense, the demand for tubal ligation by women older than 25 and with little schooling has increased. It is an exploratory and descriptive study with a qualitative approach aiming at: getting to know the significance of tubal ligation among sterilized women in the Vila Pinto, Porto Alegre; understanding the reasons for choosing this method and; finding out whether this surgical procedure entails any changes in sexual relationship. The participants in the study are 12 women who undertook tubal ligation within the period from July 2002 to June 2003. Data collection occurred by means of a semi-structured interview. The contents of the reports were analysed, wherefrom three topics emerged: decision to have tubal ligation; occurrence of tubal ligation and; experiences after tubal ligation.
tubal sterilization; contraception; family planning