中國為了控制人口成長，於1979 年推出「一胎化政策」，但在此之前即有出生率急速下降的情況。特別是上海，從1950 年代後半至1960 年代，先於全國出現了出生率下降現象，這可以說是從1950 年代中期起政府斷續地推動節制生育的結果。上海的人口壓力較全國其他地方尤為明顯，因此當地衛生局更迅速而有力地推進節制生育。當時的節制生育情況與後來的「一胎化政策」不同，婦女大多出於「自願」。她們在工作與家務、養育子女的雙重負擔下，積極地接受了節制生育的宣傳。1950 年代初，婦女因各自的條件和社會階層的差異，生育觀念不一，但在上海城市地區，到1960 年代中期，節制生育的觀念已能滲透到過去從未接觸過的幼小失學的勞動階層婦女。然而，當時的節制生育，還沒有開發出安全、有效、簡便的方法，加上積極對待節制生育的男性仍然較少，在這樣的技術條件和社會性別結構的制約下，上海的大多數婦女只得選擇以婦女身體負擔較重的「絕育」─輸卵管結紮以及人工流產為主要節育手段，來實現生育的自我決定權。

Fertility rates in China had started to decline sharply before the one-child policy was put into effect in 1979. Shanghai experienced a decline in the late 1950s and the 1960s, somewhat ahead of the rest of China. This decline was the consequence of birth control campaigns that the government had intermittently conducted since the mid-1950s in response to high demographic pressures. Birth control, which became known as jihua shengyu (birth planning), was not compulsory but was practiced on a voluntary basis throughout this period. Despite this, coping with the double burden of work and home, women willingly complied with birth control campaigns launched by Shanghai Health Bureau, women’s federation, and other organizations. By the early 1960s, the concept of birth control had reached even uneducated working-class women. But birth control methods at that time were not sufficiently developed in regards to safety, effectiveness, and convenience. Moreover most of men were not willing to use birth control. These technological limitations on top of the gendered social structure led Shanghai women to adopt induced abortion and jueyu (tubal ligation), which could harm their health but allowed them to make decisions on reproduction for themselves.