Giving birth is every mother’s dream, and children are special gifts from God. “My husband and I have decided to opt out of contraceptive uptake because of fear of its side effects and health risks.
“More so, my search for a male child has discouraged me from using contraceptives, and I will continue to procreate till I give birth to a male child”.
The above were the words of Christabel Luke (not real names), a 34-year-old mother of five who recently delivered another baby girl barely a year after she gave birth.
She is one of those women that has accepted the misconceptions and beliefs that people who use contraceptives end up with health problems, lose interest in sex or become incapable of reproducing.
Contraception is of interest at the present time not only because of lack of control of Nigeria’s burgeoning population resulting from uncontrolled births, but due to the alarming rate of maternal and child deaths.
Today, women are dying annually from pregnancy or childbirth-related issues, and one of the complications that account for these deaths is unsafe abortions.
There have been significant global improvement in reducing maternal and child deaths for the last decade but little or no progress has been made in Nigeria to end preventable deaths as well as offer universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including family planning, which is one of the proposed 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.
Despite public awareness and campaigns to increase the use of modern contraceptive in Nigeria, it is still strange to majority of women of reproductive age, and this has resulted to high maternal mortality from unintended pregnancies and illegal abortions.
The main drawback is not unconnected with lack of information about the various available options, limited access to health care facilities as well as beliefs and myths about the use of contraceptives.
“The patriarchal nature of societies where husbands make the final decision and in some cases they may not accept any of the family planning methods and the wives would have no choice than to comply. Additionally, the number of living sons a woman has also influenced her contraceptive use as most women wouldn’t mind getting pregnant up to 6 to 7 times all in a bid to have a male child,” says Victor Ohenhen, an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Central Hospital Benin.
The physician who defined family planning as a process that allows people to attain their desired number of children and determine the spaces of pregnancy, said it can be achieved through the use of contraceptives.
Victor noted that aside from preventing unwanted and high risk pregnancies which often lead to death of mothers and babies, family planning has potential benefits of reducing women’s dependency by allowing them more opportunities to work, lower population growth; and this with a good political climate, can boost economic development.
He said family planning is one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent maternal, infant, and child mortality, adding that it can reduce maternal mortality by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, the number of abortions, and the proportion of births at high risk.
“Of course if family planning is properly practised it will go a long way in addressing some of the problems hindering development in Nigeria. First of all women who practice family planning and child spacing have enough time to work, thereby contributing to the economic growth of the country,” he said.
Worried on the low rate of contraceptive use in Nigeria, the medical expert advocated concerted efforts by relevant authorities to educate the public on family planning and its benefits.
“Efforts should be made to develop new approaches to family planning, including male contraceptives.New ways should be explored to pool the procurement of supplies across regions and countries.
“Mobile phones have the potential to transform family planning and it still represents an underexploited frontier in the quest to increase contraception uptake. They can help monitor contraceptive supplies and improve distribution. Their wide availability, portability and privacy also mean they can provide advice targeting remote communities, and frequently excluded groups.
“Some communities within leading faiths,notably within Christianity and Islam are perceived to be resistant to family planning, as with Catholic objections to abortion. It is imperative to work with religious and community leaders to convince them and in turn their followers that sexual and reproductive health for women is essential for community welfare. Encouraging spacing of children should also be advocated.
“There should be incentivization of the whole process which may consist of cash reward or other incentives. There’s mounting evidence that this has led to more
