IWD: Women told to adopt self-injectable family planning method

AS Nigerian women joined others globally to commemorate International Women’s Day, an expert in family planning, Mrs Adeola Awakan has urged them to adopt the self-injectable contraceptive for family planning because it is convenient and puts women in charge of their reproductive health.

Awakan, Oyo State Family Planning Coordinator, speaking at the Society for Family Health’s International Women’s Day celebration at Bodija market in Ibadan, said the 3-monthly depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) self-injectable contraceptive affords women a high priority on privacy, convenience and affordability when it comes to family planning services.

She stated that women on the self-injectable contraceptive can stop its use when they are ready to get pregnant and wouldn’t have to go back to the health facility because their ovulation would resume.

According to her, “Every woman has a right to go for family planning; every woman should say yes to family planning, especially on International Women’s Day. Every family that is on family planning is a healthy family. Family planning cuts down on maternal mortality rate by 30 per cent. With family planning, the woman will have more time to develop herself and have the number of children that she can cater for. Her life will be better and she will live a healthy life.”

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Earlier, Society for Family Health’s Social and Behaviour Communication coordinator for Oyo State, Mr Sebastian Abiroh said the choice of the Bodija market for the self-injectable contraceptive outreach in marking the International Women’s Day was in order to reach a larger number of women on the benefits of family planning methods and services.

According to him, “women in the community, especially those in the grassroots, find it difficult to visit the health facility because of their business. So we decided that since they already have an established place where they come every day, we will bring the service to them. This way, it will be easier for many of them to actually pick up a family planning method.”