Evelyn Lirri
19 May 2008
Only 24 years old, Lillian Kyomugisha is expecting her fifth child. From Kyabiranga village in Buchuro Sub-county, Mbarara District, Ms Kyomugisha walked close to 20kms to access the nearest health centre.
A peasant farmer, Kyomugisha says she did not want to have a big family but because she was not educated on family planning, she has ended up with all these children.
"I am going to be trained and then I start using family planning. If I don't the family will be large and I will not be able manage," she says.
Ms Kyomugisha said she has already discussed her plan to start using contraceptives with her husband who is receptive of the idea.
"After giving birth, I will start using the contraceptives. I don't want to have more children now," Ms Kyomugisha said.
Like Ms Kyomugisha, many women who talked to Daily Monitor from various health centres in Mbarara District said they would have liked to stop giving birth after a certain number of children but have ended up with many more because they did not seek family planning services.
Ms Robinah Mugabi, the clinical officer in charge of Bwizibwera Health Centre IV in Mbarara district says the health centre has a huge stock of various contraceptives that people can use as family planning methods, although most of it is not utilised to the expectation of health workers.
She says that as mothers come to seek various services at the clinic, they are also sensitized about child spacing and the advantages of family planning.
Unfortunately though, Ms Mugabi said men never accompany their wives to the health facility yet they are the key decision makers.
"So even when the women tell us that they are willing to start on family planning, they fear their husbands who in most cases do not agree," she said.
With many maternal and child related births occurring across the country because of frequent unintended pregnancies, health and population experts are urging more investment in family planning services.
Reproductive health problems including unintended pregnancies, maternal death and sexually transmitted infections remain the leading cause of ill health and death for women of childbearing age.
Secretariat.Reproductive health problems including unintended pregnancies, maternal death and sexually transmitted infections remain the leading cause of ill health and death for women of childbearing age.
According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2006, contraceptive use has increased since 1995 from 15 percent to 24 percent among married women. However, this is still low compared to the number of women who need these services.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
