Better Access to Contraceptives needed for mothers

Modern Day Contraceptives for women  

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Women that live in low resource settings and lack the knowledge of proper contraceptives are more likely to have unintended pregnancy.

This was highlighted during the 51^st Medical Symposium in Port Moresby this week.

The finding was part of a research conducted from November 2011 to February 2012 on Unintended Pregnancies amongst women attending antenatal clinics (Clinics for pregnant mothers) at Port Moresby General Hospital.

The research found out that only a half of the total 1200 participants clearly intended their pregnancies (both desired and occurring at the correct time).

The research revealed as well that women who were single, separated or divorced were over six times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy compared to married women.

 Women with little or no education were one and a half times more likely to have unintended pregnancy compared to women who had completed secondary or tertiary studies.

The research also said early age of sexual encounter was linked with unintended pregnancy showing that two thirds of all pregnancies in women under the age of 20 were unintended.

This was not surprising because according to facts younger women have higher fertility and a higher frequency of sexual intercourse.

But because some women were in low-resource settings they had little or no access to contraceptives, to help them prevent the unintended pregnancies.

The research recommended that increased knowledge of contraceptives is more likely to prevent unintended pregnancy and highlighted the need for effective programs and strategies to increase access to contraceptive services.

The education on the use of these contraceptives was paramount to allow women to have the knowledge to delay and space their pregnancies.