Women more suited for family Planning Methods – Gynaecologist

The female physiological make-up that aids the regulation of fertility is the reason for the availability of variety of contraceptive choices - an advantage for its safe uptake by more women to control births.

Dr Roderick Larsen-Reindorf, Gynaecologist and Lecturer at the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said the intervention of policy makers to encourage more women to patronise Family Planning (FP) methods is not a matter of gender discrimination but a case for national development.

He was responding to concerns at a Family Planning media sensitisation workshop in Kumasi.

The workshop aimed at updating the knowledge of media practitioners on contraceptives and how to demystify its use and increase patronage.

It was organized by the College of Health Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Johns Hopkins University of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Funding was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He explained that the female reproductive cycle is controlled by two hormones – estrogen and progesterone, which can be controlled to target when the woman is most fertile for the necessary scientific medical interferences to be made to either facilitate pregnancy or to stem it.

Dr Larsen-Reindorf, who is also a gynaecologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, explained that about 10 kinds of contraceptives were currently available to women, whilst only three existed for men.

Explaining the reason for the limited choices for male contraceptive, he said the male physiology at variance with that of females has only one dominant hormone, and that made certain Family Planning interventions difficult to the extent that if care is not taken, attempts to kill the male reproductive cells would eventually be inimical to men’s health.

He mentioned some of the female contraceptives as the Intra Uterine Device (IUD), Depo Provera - injectable, oral pills, female condom, Tubal Ligation, cycle beads, diaphragm and lactational amenorrhea.

He said the adoption of birth control methods is 200 times safer than women getting pregnant, and will also improve the quality of life of families since they would give birth to only the number of children they can take care of.

He said adherence to Family Planning will also help the nation achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 by stemming needless maternal and neonatal deaths, and result in economic development since the scarce national resources would not be overstretched.

Giving statistics on contraceptive use in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Joseph Oduro, Deputy Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said the family planning injectable Depo Provera topped the list of contraceptives used.

This was because the injection, which was taken every three months, could be taken without the consent of husbands and also allayed the fear of having unprotected sex.

He said this was followed by oral contraceptive tablets and the male condom which could be obtained over the counter from chemical shops.