Summary
Misconceptions and side effects of modern contraceptives discourage women in Buikwe, Uganda, from family planning, leading to unplanned pregnancies and social challenges.
In the Buikwe district of Uganda, the number of women using modern family planning is declining due to the myths and misconceptions people in the district have about it.
It should be noted that the number of family planning users in the Buikwe district was 2,489, and it increased by 97% to 78,241 additional users by May 2022. Surprisingly, half of the family planning users are adolescents and youth between 15 and 24 years old.
Having noticed the decreasing use of modern family planning methods, Msnews Uganda, with support from Akina Mama Wa Afrika (AMwA), took time to find out “Why Women in Buikwe are not adopting modern Family planning methods: Addressing Myths and Misconceptions.” through different engagements with different focus groups collecting views on the topic.
Under the women’s focus group discussions in Kyamabaale village, under their focal person Fatia Nassuuna, women expressed that they no longer use modern family planning methods due to the fact that they encountered challenges caused by the side effects associated. They revealed spotting, long-time menstrual periods, and missing periods.
Shamirah Namutebi, who until now skips two to three months without menstruating, some used to get pregnant when they were using the methods, conflicts that lead to gender-based violence in homes and above all, they don’t receive financial support from their husbands to treat family planning side effects especially when taken behind their husbands backs.
According to men under their focus group in Buikwe municipal council, led by their focal person Godfrey Sserwadda, they noted family planning methods as the leading cause of conflicts in their marriages. They said that, first of all, women using family planning don’t have sexual urges, so they don’t want to engage in sex with their husbands. The side effects associated with modern family planning methods also scare them from allowing their wives to use the methods since they require a lot of money to treat them, which they don’t have. They, therefore, chose to use the withdrawal method.
Women, therefore, stopped using the methods and due to this, they have fallen into traps of having a large number of children that they cannot support and some of the men leave the burden of taking care of these children to the women.
We then dug deep to find out from health workers why women take side effects associated with modern family planning as the main reason for not using them. One of the health workers from Buikwe Health Centre III, Jennifer Nalweyiso, noted that they take time to talk to women about the use of modern family planning, but the biggest challenge is that they listen to their husband’s orders that the health workers so health workers don’t have any other alternatives.
Jennifer expressed that they respect patients’ rights, so they can not force them to make any life decisions but only guide them in their choices.
Another midwife from Sisters of Joseph Clinic in Kyambogo village, Deborah Nansubuga, expressed concern over the way women don’t turn up for family planning classes for fear of their husbands. Therefore, they get family planning without being educated on how to handle the side effects in case they get them, especially through changing the methods. In this, they just choose to stop using modern methods after facing the side effects, hence getting many unplanned children.
Meanwhile, Joseph Bisaso, the social worker at the Child to Youth Foundation in Mwajija village, an NGO that helps needy children, expressed dissatisfaction with families with more children they can not support. Even when the foundation helps them support some of them through education and other necessities of life, they still don’t use family planning and continue getting other children, yet they cannot support them.
The Secretary for the Darasa women’s group in Kyamabaale, Hasifa Namutebi, and the woman councillor for Buikwe ward B, Phionah Namigadde, joined their voices and appealed to the Ministry of Health to sensitise women about modern family planning methods before using them and highlight the importance of seeking medical advice when they experience side effects.
However, the OC Child and Family Protection Unit at Buikwe Police SGT Rosemary Asaba noted that most domestic violence cases they handle at police are caused by men neglecting their family responsibilities due to the increasing number of children in homes.
SGT Asaba noted that most women are not educated about modern family planning methods before using them, and she is a survivor of the IUD method, which affected her health. She said this scares away women from using the methods, hence getting more unplanned children.
“I talked to the health worker when I continuously felt dizzy, and she said my blood levels could not support the IUD method. But other women don’t seek medical attention. They just stop and get pregnant.”
She, therefore, called upon the Ministry of Health and all stakeholders to endeavour to sensitize the public about the methods and provide them with solutions to the side effects so that they can be more attracted to using them.
