By Francis Onoiribholo / Bureau Chief, Benin
Most Nigerian women seeking family planning services now prefer the long-acting methods to daily pills and injectibles.
This discovery was made known by the Matron in charge of Evboutubu Primary Health Centre, Benin City, Edo State, Mrs. Mary Atoe.
Atoe spoke to journalists during the ongoing awareness campaign for family planning and distribution of free family planning kits by the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI).
She noted that the majority of women who turned up for family planning services go for implanting methods, which, she said, last longer than the daily pills and injectible types.
According to Atoe, “The long-acting methods are very safe and convenient to use, as most women who use them experience less side effects and do not raise blood pressure.
“They prefer the implants which last in the body for about four to five years, rather than coming for monthly injections or swallowing pills.”
She observed that awareness for family planning services spearheaded by NURHI are so high in the community that the chairman of the community personally paid a visit to the health centre to express appreciation and laud NURHI for the noble objective.
She also noted that the free distribution of family planning products to residents of the community by NURHI recorded more than 90 per cent success, considering the large number of people who have turned out to access commodities.
One of the women who turned up for the programme, Mrs. Esosa Timothy, and who commended NURHI for the initiative, said she came because she desired an apple time to rest from the last delivery before another pregnancy, just as she also wants to space her pregnancy in order to give her children quality life. Timothy encouraged other women who are still trapped in taboo to have the courage to come forward and access the programme, adding that as far as it does no harm to the body or come with serious side effects, women should access it.
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