By IJEOMA UKAZU
Many women are experiencing unwanted and mistimed pregnancies, with consequences ranging from interruption of schooling to health risks and economic hardship, all of which hinder efforts to improve their socioeconomic status.
Despite gains recorded in the uptake of modern contraception, many women of reproductive age in most parts of the developing world who would like to delay or avoid pregnancy do not use any method of contraception.
The unmet need of women is a result of the low availability of family planning commodities to help them avoid unwanted, unintended pregnancies.
Reproductive health experts said Nigeria takes a huge proportion of about 190 million women globally, who are not using contraceptives despite the desire to space the birth of their children.
In Nigeria, the Guttmacher Institute said, six in 10 married women aged 15 to 49 want to space or limit childbearing, and 14 percent of all births are either mistimed or unwanted. Thirty-two percent of married women and 54 percent of sexually active has a need for family.
The institute further said many women either have never heard of any contraceptive method or do not know where to obtain contraceptives.
An obstetrician gynaecologist at the University College Hospital, UCH Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr. Christopher Aimakhu revealed during a virtual event that “if all unmet needs in Nigeria are met, unintended pregnancies will drop by 77 percent, from 2.5 million to 555,000 per year”.
He said, as a result of that, the annual number of unplanned births would be decreased from 885,000 to 200,000 and the number of abortions would drop from 1.3 million to 287,000.
Aimakhu lamented that Nigeria still has a huge unmet need for family planning due to the low availability of contraceptives which is mostly seen in developing countries.
He called on the government and donor agencies to carry out urgent interventions to increase the use of modern contraception in the country.
Speaking during a 3-day capacity building workshop for editors and OAPs organized by Pathfinder International in Abuja, one of the facilitators from Gombe State, Mr. Chima Azubuike said, currently, of the estimated 42 million women of reproductive age, only 14 percent use a modern contraceptive, adding that about 10.6 million women who have a need for family planning but do not have access to modern contraceptive.
According to him, Nigeria has some existing gaps hampering the mCPR target in Nigeria, “the gaps are the limited provision of family planning services across public and private facilities due to inherent health systems challenges and frequent stock out of commodities.
“Limited inclusion of family planning services in health benefits packages of National and State health insurance schemes.”
Azubuike urged sexual and reproductive health advocates, stakeholders, and the government is committed to issues of family planning in order to reduce maternal mortality in the country.
The Guttmacher Institute suggests that by educating and empowering both married and sexually active unmarried women to make informed and responsible decisions about contraceptive use and their desired fertility, the Nigerian government can improve both the health and the economic productivity of its citizens.
The institute also said that reducing unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion in Nigeria requires the adequate provision of family planning services, as well as public education to dispel rumors and misperceptions about the health consequences and effectiveness of modern methods. Men should be encouraged to support their partner’s desire to have fewer children.