The Society for Family Health (SFH) has brought to light a concerning trend: the increasing abortion rate among married women. SFH highlighted that many married women are opting for abortions without informing their husbands, citing reasons such as familial love and the persistent rise in inflation.
This revelation came from SFH’s Country Social and Behaviour Change Coordinator, Michael Titus, during a dissemination meeting of the Niger State Family Planning/DMPA-SC performance of the Delivering Innovation in Self-Care initiative in Minna, Niger State. Titus emphasized that married women are resorting to abortion to mitigate the negative economic impact of having more children on their families.
He elaborated, stating, “Abortion among married women is something that is on the rise. For married women, it is obvious because our men are shying away from the fact that family planning uptake is important and beneficial to them and their families. Look at the situation in the country, we have so many issues like inflation which is causing the purchasing power of each family to reduce, especially now that the cost of buying pampers and paying school fees are on the rise. Women love their families, they love their husbands, they don’t want the situation whereby the purchasing power of the family declines.”
Titus highlighted that some married women are turning to abortion to avoid the financial strain of raising additional children, considering the escalating costs of essentials like diapers and school fees. He emphasized the importance of family planning methods like Subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate self-injectable contraception for married women who wish to space their children.
Titus revealed that in Niger State, 27,000 women adopted the self-injection method of birth control in the first quarter of this year, while 194,700 women embraced the use of Subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate self-injectable contraception over the past 33 months. He noted a remarkable 300 per cent growth in the self-injection rate in the state, indicating successful self-injection by 52 out of every 100 women who opt for DMPA-SC under the supervision of health providers.
Dr. Ibrahim Dangana, the state’s Primary Healthcare Commissioner, expressed support for initiatives like the Delivering Innovation in Self-care project, which aims to empower women in managing their reproductive health.
Dr. Dangana highlighted the positive impact of family planning services in allowing women to space their children according to their preferences and pledged further support for expanding such services to other local government areas. He also emphasized the importance of training healthcare workers in counseling and delivering self-care services to meet the growing demand for family planning assistance.