Nigeria – Unsafe abortion fueling female infertility, maternal deaths, say gynaecologists

6th February 2024
By Janet Ogundepo

Maternal health experts have attributed the low contraceptive prevalence rate in the country to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

In separate exclusive interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, they cautioned that the continuous rise in unsafe abortion would lead to increased cases of infertility and maternal deaths. Already, Nigeria has a maternal mortality rate of 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the World Health Organisation.

Continued: https://punchng.com/unsafe-abortion-fueling-female-infertility-maternal-deaths-say-gynaecologists/

Malta – Forty, pregnant, and seeking an abortion

A trend is emerging in Malta among women aged 40 and over, who already have children and who experience unintended pregnancies despite using contraception. The Journal catches up with Doctors for Choice - Malta’s Dr Natalie Psaila.

The Journal
Jan 16, 2024

If you think that unwanted pregnancies are exclusive to teenagers, think again.
“An emerging trend that we’re observing is among individuals aged 40 and over, who already have children, who say that they have used contraception, but still experience unintended pregnancies,” reveals Dr Natalie Psaila, a Maltese doctor who make it to the BBC’s top 100 inspirational women in 2023.

These women confirm using CE certified condoms but, despite these precautions, they still get pregnant, she pointed out. “These condoms shouldn’t fail easily but no contraceptive is fail-proof. This is why these couples are getting pregnant. Condoms have about 10% failure rate. Something like the pull-out method – a favourite with the Maltese – has a 40% failure rate.”

Continued: https://thejournal.mt/forty-pregnant-and-seeking-an-abortion/

Nigeria – Importance Of Implementing Effective Family Planning Programme After Childbirth

By Chioma Umeha
Jan 5, 2024

The importance of implementing an effective family planning programme after childbirth cannot be overstated. It is crucial to ensure the well-being of both the mother and the child.

By providing access to comprehensive family planning services, individuals can make informed decisions about their reproductive health and plan for the future.

This not only promotes the physical and emotional health of the family but also contributes to the overall development and stability of society.

Continued: https://independent.ng/importance-of-implementing-effective-family-planning-programme-after-childbirth/

Free contraception provision expanded in Ireland

BBC
Mon, January 1, 2024

A scheme offering free contraception in the Republic of Ireland has been expanded. Since its launch in 2022, the programme has offered free contraception to women, girls and people who identify as transgender or non-binary.

Initially open to those aged 17 to 25, the scheme's age limit was increased last year to 30. From Monday, it is also open to women aged 31.

Continued: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/free-contraception-provision-expanded-ireland-084149291.html

01.01.2024

State Policy Trends 2023: In the First Full Year Since Roe Fell, a Tumultuous Year for Abortion and Other Reproductive Health Care

Kimya Forouzan and Isabel Guarnieri, Guttmacher Institute
December 19, 2023

In 2023, the first full year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state legislatures took key action on sexual and reproductive health. While many states increased access and piloted new policy solutions to expand and protect abortion and other sexual and reproductive health care, others sought to further curtail access.

The landscape of abortion access in the United States is fractured: Fourteen states enforce total bans, and seven more restrict access under limits that also would have been unconstitutional under Roe. As of December 13, 2023, another 22 states and the District of Columbia had enacted 129 measures to protect abortion access this year—the highest number of protections ever enacted in a single year.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2023/12/state-policy-trends-2023-first-full-year-roe-fell-tumultuous-year-abortion-and-other

19.12.2023

Nigeria – Interview: 2024 health budget of N1trn will barely scratch the surface, says expert

Dec 16, 2023
In 2017, Nigeria’s maternal mortality hit 917 per 100,000 births. Three years later, the figures surged by nearly 14 percent to 1,047 deaths, ranking among the world’s highest. With each spike, it is a bleak canvas of despair for countless Nigerian women seeking to bring life into the world.

With the conclusion of the 16 days of activism, Lucky Palmer, country director of Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, spoke with TheCable’s CLAIRE MOM to shed light on the factors that contributed to the country’s high maternal mortality rate and offered practical steps that can be taken to ensure every woman’s right to safe childbirth.

Continued: https://www.thecable.ng/interview-2024-health-budget-of-n1tn-will-barely-scratch-surface-says-expert

16.12.2023

Interviews/Podcasts

Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation

Need For Nigeria To Effectively Roll Out Postnatal Family Planning Programmes

By Chioma Umeha
Dec 12, 2023

Experts have kept stressing how important it is for Nigeria and other Afrcan and Asian countries to effectively roll out postnatal family planning programmes.

The International Conference for Family Planning (ICFP2022)stressed that the postnatal period is a crucial phase after childbirth when women are at greater risk of unwanted pregnancies and need family planning.

Continued: https://independent.ng/need-for-nigeria-to-effectively-roll-out-postnatal-family-planning-programmes/

12.12.2023

News

family planning programme

International Conference for Family Planning

maternal mortality ratio

Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria

Sustainable Development Goals

World Health Organisation

‘Like knives penetrating me’: Greenland’s victims of forced contraception seek justice

In the late 1960s, Denmark implemented a brutal contraceptive policy to limit births in its former colony of Greenland, forcing thousands of teenage girls to have IUDs inserted without their consent. After decades of repressing their trauma, the women are now speaking out and demanding reparation.

25/11/2023
By: Cyrielle CABOT

Naja Lyberth still has vivid memories of the ordeal she went through as a schoolgirl in Greenland, almost 50 years ago. “I was 13 or 14 at the time, I’m not sure. It was during our annual medical examination at school,” she recalls. “The pain was indescribable.”

Like thousands of fellow Greenlandic women, Lyberth was forced to have an interuterine device (IUD) – a long-term contraceptive also known as a coil – fitted when she was a teenager, without her consent or that of her parents.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231125-like-knives-penetrating-me-greenland-s-victims-of-forced-contraception-seek-justice

25.11.2023

Australia – Contraception Inaccessibility: Violent Act Against Women

Nov 24, 2023
Sustainable Population Australia

On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25), Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) claims that denying women access to contraception is a form of violence.

SPA national president Jenny Goldie says women and adolescent girls must have the right to decide if or when they have sex, and if and when to have children.

Continued: https://www.miragenews.com/contraception-inaccessibility-violent-act-1130702/

24.11.2023

News

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Jenny Goldie

Pat Conroy

Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Population Australia

Canada – Women’s health advocates applaud Manitoba’s plan to subsidize prescription birth control

NDP promised universal coverage of select contraceptives during election campaign

CBC News
Nov 22, 2023

Birth control will soon become free for all Manitobans with a prescription, the province announced Tuesday. The announcement, made during Premier Wab Kinew's Tuesday throne speech, makes good on an election promise the NDP campaigned on. The party previously pegged the cost to implement the universal coverage of select contraceptives at $11 million per year.

"Reproductive health care is a right. Our government will protect and affirm Manitobans' right to access abortion services, protect abortion providers and make prescription birth control free," said Tuesday's speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville in the legislature.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-throne-speech-birth-control-1.7035927

22.11.2023