BIRTH CONTROL IN MENYAMYA

 

People of Wapi LLG in Menyamya.
PICTURE courtesy of Ipana Simon.

MOTHERS PREFER DEPO PROVERA

WOMEN in remote Menyamya of Morobe province prefer the depo provera injection for family planning.

But with medicines in short supply, the women and their husbands are now giving money to PMV crews to buy their supplies in the capital city of Lae, hundreds of kilometres away on the coast.

The round trip takes a few days, says Aseki health centre sister in Charge Mathilda Maborai.

She says the Depo-Provera has been in short supplies for mothers from Menyama for the past four years now.

The Depo-Provera shot is an injection you get once every three months and it is a safe and convenient birth control method.

Family planning is one of the health programs which the Aseki Health centre is spearheading to help new couples to plan their children and avoid rural mothers having birth complications.

Sr Mathilda Maborai said that the current issue with high pregnancy rate in the catchment area of the health centre is lack of family planning method reaching the district.

Sr Maborai said among the 7,600 women population in Nanima Kariba and Kapau LLG of Menyama, who access Aseki health centre for medical assistance, most married women prefer the depo provera for their family planning.

“Most of these mothers on family planning prefer depo, but we have been receiving our supplies and for the past four years, depo supplies coming in are really low,” Sr Maborai said.

“For mothers who still want to use depo, they gave their money to PMV crews who travel to Lae and make the purchase of depos in Lae and bring to the mothers to use.”

She stressed that mothers refused to get the implant method as it causes a lot of frictions between their husbands.

The family planning methods available in stock at Aseki health centre are pills and condoms.

with ABBEGAIL WAFI of Post-Courier