For mothers’ sake: Speakers stress need to encourage contraception

Ratio of people using contraception options in urban areas was 45%, while the rural population's ratio only 31%.

KARACHI:

Lack of proper family planning is a serious dilemma and one of the major issues faced by the country today. Contraceptive options need to be discussed as an integral part of the maternity care package, which includes counselling for the available contraceptive methods.

These views were expressed by speakers at an orientation seminar titled 'Training for and Institutionalisation of Post Placental and Immediate Postpartum Insertion of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device', organised by the National Committee for Maternal and Neonatal Health (NCMNH) at the Avari Towers hotel on Wednesday. The speakers were of the opinion that women need to be counselled and informed about the choice of postpartum insertion of the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD).



The NCMNH implemented an intervention providing IUCD services right after childbirth at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Sobhraj Maternity Hospital (SMH) during April 2012 to June 2013. After the encouraging results of the pilot phase, the NCMNH is now implementing the postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device (PPIUCD) intervention at nine selected hospitals in Karachi. NCMNH president Dr Sadiqua N Jafarey explained that the body analysed the problem of high maternal mortality and morbidity in the country and developed and demonstrated workable approaches with the objective of lowering these rates.

"Only 35 per cent of people in Pakistan use contraceptive options," revealed NCMNH national manager, Dr Laila Shah. "Other Muslim countries have improved and we have to set a target to increase the number up to 50 per cent by the end of 2015," she stressed.

Dr Laila said that the ratio of people using contraception options in urban areas was 45 per cent, while the rural population's ratio only 31 per cent. Only nine per cent of married couples used condoms, which was the single-largest option adopted across the country.

The speakers urged that education was the only option that would help get results.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2014.