Birth Control In African American Women

“There is a need to take Zambian or African culture seriously in order to look at the salient elements of cultural practices in rites of passage that influence the spread of HIV and AIDS” (Moyo & Muller, 2011). Giving birth to a child is considered special, value and brings respect, and high societal status in South African culture. If a woman has not gotten pregnant after some time of their marriage, the husband is asked to make special arrangements with another woman to see if she gets pregnant by the husband. If there is a problem with the husband, the family will make special arrangements with another man until the woman conceives. This is kept secret and money is given as a gift for the favor. This is the culture of the people of South Africa which has a great influence on the spread of HIV/AIDS due to having multiple partners.

Fertility and Abortion rates vary across cultures and ethnic groups. The variations may be due to the differences in traditional norms and societal preferences among cultures and ethnic groups. In this research paper, various scholarly articles, which are mostly based on research done in different parts of the world, will be referenced. The articles discuss fertility and abortion rates in particular cultures and possible reasons for the differences. Fertility and abortion rates and behavior in Togo, Africa; Iran, Middle East; South Asia and United

Globally, most countries have achieved a birth rate at about two children per woman. But in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s 5.6 children per woman, largely because girls are not aware of reproductive choices and drop out of school at a young age and have kids.

In a developed first world nation where the use of contraceptive such as birth control and condoms is due to the fact that our governments are concerned about the rates of teenage pregnancy, but for an underdeveloped nation it spells out demise for a woman to be a single mother and have a difficult time staying in school, social isolation and more unplanned pregnancies (Kane and Wellings, 1999). In those underdeveloped countries the problem lie where the widespread failure of not using the contraceptive correctly. For example in the UK, where contraceptive is available for free at least a quarter of the of pregnancies ending in abortion are conceived without contraception and most of those resulted in incorrect use or inconsistent use (Glasier et al, 2006).

The possibility that a young woman does not wish to have children or does not feel ready upon marriage is essentially ignored in most developing nations. Should a woman wish to postpone childbearing, she may encounter difficulties finding contraceptive methods. “The most commonly reported reasons for unmet need [for contraception] are lack of knowledge, health concerns, and social disapproval” (Casterline & Sinding, 2000 as cited in Levine et al., 2006). The lack of female education about contraception in countries where it would be of greatest aid is a major indicator of why maternal mortality is still such a prevalent issue. In American, “woman have to get prescriptions for contraceptives from their health care providers”, and there is a multitude of information available to women who wish to use contraception (Hansman, 2014). Many women in poor areas of developing nations do not have regular access to health care providers, resulting in both lack of information and materials to implement family planning practices. Contraception in general is a delicate matter due to the stigma attached in societies where high fertility is culturally valued. Reactions from “government policy [or] the way a husband might perceive his wife’s use of birth control” can be deterrents for a woman to abandon her own desires to refrain from pregnancy (Hansman, 2014). It can be argued that even if proper contraceptive methods were provided to women in developing nations, the actual usage is

The primary factor to higher fertility in developing countries to lower fertility in developed countries is the lower status of women. Developing countries follow traditional trends that everyone should get married, in fact, 98.2% of the Burundian population is married. (United Nations, 2012) Women of developing countries have less control over how many children they want to have versus how many children their husbands want to have. They do not have the independence of choosing unlike women in developed countries. In addition, Burundian society has a tendency to be in favor of males rather than females. For example, parents spend more resources on male offsprings rather than female offsprings in doctor visits, food, and education. When children of a particular family get sick, the parents would rather take the male offsprings to the doctors because male

This study is a prospective, special exposure cohort study. The study population will include HIV seropositive pregnant women, postpartum women within 6 weeks after delivery (due to the fact that most HIV-infected pregnant women do not usually come back for postpartum visits after delivery), and infants of seropositive pregnant women till 6 months old in Gambia. The study will be conducted in three years. The prevalence of HIV among women in Gambia is higher (7.6 per 1000) than other West African countries (3.1 per 1000). Our eligibility criteria include reproductive ages of women from 15-45 years old, HIV seropositive pregnant women, and participants from the three regions of Brikama, Janjanbureh, and Basse In Gambia (unicef, 2013). We intend recruiting 224~250 participants, based on the sample size calculation below (to accommodate potential losses to follow ups), nationwide in urban hospital clinics from the largest antenatal centers in Gambia (Please send me the correct link [2]). An informed consent will be obtained and signed by participants. Afterwards, a detailed questionnaire about their demographic variables, physical examination findings, HIV staging, and mode of delivery, breastfeeding and laboratory tests will be performed (Lambert et al., 1997). The specimen will be collected and stored, and the women will be seen on subsequent antenatal or postnatal visits for follow up. The selection

So, in order to find a solution to this problem, people began to promote “birth spacing” and not “birth control” meaning that people should only have more kids if they can support a larger family rather than having a large family in poverty (Rosenthal). The high increase of fertility rate that led to poverty was once done because Nigeria was agriculturally based and needed more people for farming. This led to rapid growth and to stop this, family planning was introduced in the 1970s but the money and attention on family planning later averted to Africa’s AIDS problems. Although Nigeria’s replacement fertility rate had decreased, it is still quite high and with an extremely young population, that can cause major problems. According to statistics, “Sub-Saharan Africa, which now accounts for 12 percent of the world's population, will account for more than a third by 2100, by many projections” if the fertility rate was to stay the same (Rosenthal).

The background Induced abortion contributes significantly to maternal mortality in developing countries yet women still seek repeat induced abortion in spite of availability of contraceptive services. The aim of this study is to determine the rate of abortion and contraceptive use among women seeking repeat induced abortion in Western Nigeria. Method. A prospective cross-sectional study utilizing self-administered questionnaires was administered to women seeking abortion in private hospitals/clinics in four geopolitical areas of Ogun State, Western Nigeria, from January 1 to December 31 2012. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. Results. The age range for those seeking repeat induced abortion was 15 to 51 years while the median age was 25 years. Of 2934 women seeking an abortion, 23% reported having had one or more previous abortions. Of those who had had more than one abortion, the level of awareness of contraceptives was 91.7% while only 21.5% used a contraceptive at their first intercourse after the procedure; 78.5% of the pregnancies were associated with non-contraceptive use while 17.5% were associated with contraceptive failure. The major reason for non-contraceptive use was fear of side effects. Conclusion. The rate of women seeking repeat abortions is high in Nigeria. The rate of contraceptive use is low while contraceptive

The Kenyan government has demonstrated the aim to increase the coverage of health services in the country as well as maintain the demand by the people. The initiation of ‘free delivery’ policy by the government and subsequent incorporation of the ‘Beyond Zero’ campaign are the most recent developments in attempt to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number five- improve maternal health. Today, women in Kenya can access free delivery services in the public health facilities. Moreover, the beyond zero campaign has seen the introduction of mobile clinics where women can access the free delivery services (Beyond Zero, 2015). This is aimed at reducing the distance barrier in implementing the free-delivery policy.

This paper examines Kenya’s free maternity care policy, highlighting its successes, gaps, and contextualizing it by comparing it to comparable policies in similar settings on the African continent and globally. Additionally, this analysis offers recommendations on ways to improve the implementation of the policy.

More than 200 million women in developing countries who want to avoid or delay pregnancy are not using family planning. These women have an unmet need that can result in unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, poor health, and strains on families and economies. Improving access to voluntary family planning could mitigate these challenges and lead to a host of other benefits. (Source 22, 23, 25).

This study examines the association between reproductive health knowledge and unsafe induced abortion among female adolescents (13-19years) in selected communities in Oshodi Local government area of Lagos state. Data were

Family planning is the ability for couples to anticipate and achieve their desired number of children and the spacing of their births. The fertility rate of a country can depend on many factors such as religion, the social status of women, access to health care and the ideal family size. Successful family programs aim to change all these things, the effects of these programs are far reaching and often go beyond what was planned. First world countries don’t often need a family planning program, due to an increase in women’s status and education. But third world countries who wish to keep their population down due to economic, space, or resources issues must implement some form of family planning. From harsh laws to changing social norms countries across the globe have begun to see the effects of their programs. Family planning programs can change many aspects of life in developing countries, the changes they make are effect by many things such as the government’s willingness to support them and current social values. In most cases family planning brings about a positive change in the communities it effects.

A THESIS SUBMITED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (POPULATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH) FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY 2011