Economic Hardship: Nigerian Couples Embrace Family Planning As Survival Bites Harder

As survival becomes a priority in the present state of economy, Nigerian couples and other individuals have been visiting health facilities to access modern family planning services as a means of surviving the current economic hardship.

 

It was gathered that the number of married women who visit various Family Planning units of hospitals has been increasing as they adopt different methods of contraceptives that suit their body systems.

 

The Osun State Family Planning Coordinator, Mrs. Ololade Margaret Abatan, told The Point that the harsh economic situation in the country has been enabling more acceptability of family planning methods.

 

She said the narrative is gradually changing from when couples, especially women, used to boycott family planning, thus giving birth to a number of children that is beyond their economic status.

 

Abatan said the monthly reports from various health facilities indicated a surge in the uptake of modern family planning contraceptives by both the married and unmarried as a way of planning their lives, spacing their pregnancies and living within their financial means.

 

“Based on monthly report of activities from the facility, in what we call service data report, because if the provider should provide services from first of every month to 30th or 31st, it is expected that a data will be captured and reported at the national accepted platform, so, through that, we can see that there is an increase in uptake because even considering the level of the economic situation now, people are ready to accept family planning because they know it is the best option for them at the moment, at least to be able to meet up with daily needs and demands of things and activities and coping with the situation of things in the country.

 

“So, we believe that the next survey report that would be out, the level of modern contraceptive acceptability would have increased more than what we have before,” Abatan told The Point.

 

Enumerating the different kinds of modern contraceptives that people could adopt to control birth and also avoid unwanted pregnancy, she said, “There are different planning methods starting from the male and female condoms, we have the daily pills, then we have different types of injectable, we have the self-injectable aspect, we call it DMPNC, the individual clients can inject themselves at home, there won’t be need for them to come to the facility to meet the provider. The trained provider would have trained the clients on how to inject themselves to be able to reduce the hospital visitation. We also have the implant which will be inserted in the arm, we have the one for three years and for five years, and also, we have the IUD that will be put in the womb for women that can use it for longer years even up to 12 years. We have the permanent method for women, we have bilateral tubal ligation and for men, we have vasectomy.”

 

“We have different methods of modern contraceptive family planning that can be taken by clients and the decision to take up a method will be based on the adequate counselling by the service providers at the facility to ensure that the clients make an informed decision and choice,” she added.

 

The family planning expert called on more couples to ensure that they give at least, two years interval before getting another pregnancy in order to prevent high complications that may arise while expecting a baby.

 

Abatan said high risk pregnancies occur when women have childbirth less than two years apart and pregnancies that occur at less than two years intervals.

 

She said there are tendencies that whenever a woman is pregnant, the husband becomes the sole provider for the family and such a situation could make it more difficult for the man catering for the family needs alone.

 

Abatan, who said it is “too many” for couples to have more than four children, urged couples to strike a balance between their economic realities and the number of children to give birth to.

 

While anchoring her remarks on the surveys issued by the World Health Organisation, Abatan called on media practitioners to sensitise members of the public on the need to embrace family planning and boost their health conditions.

 

Delving into her speech titled: Debunking Myths: Addressing Clients Misconception in Family Planning, at a media roundtable meeting held in Osogbo, Abatan urged journalists to churn out publications and broadcast that would pass true and factual information on need to plan their families to members of the public.

 

According to the coordinator, “common family planning myths are that contraceptives cause infertility, condoms reduce pleasure, IUDs are only for women with multiple children, vasectomy affects libido, hormonal contraceptives are only for women who have had children and that family planning is against religious and cultural values.”

 

Giving facts on family planning myths, she said, “modern contraceptives are safe do not cause permanent infertility; proper use of condoms can ensure safety without significantly affecting pleasure; IUDs are safe for women whether or not they have had children; vasectomy has no effect on a man’s sex drive or ability; hormonal contraceptives are safe for all women of reproduce age; many religious and cultural leaders support family planning for maternal and child health benefits.”

 

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