Family Planning or better call Childbirth spacing is no doubt a tool for National development if well understood and prioritize by all stakeholders.
The family planning or childbirth spacing as can be used interchangeable is a method that helps families about decisions on when to have children that they can care for at proper stages of their growth.
The method helps individuals or couples to space their children between the ages of two or more to attain the desired number of the children they want through the spacing and timing of their births. The method is achievable through the use of contraceptive, withdrawal or total abstinence.
Family planning is critical in achieving Sustainable Development Goal to end poverty and is also key to achieving other Goals, such as ending hunger as well as promoting good health and gender equality.
Also, childbirth spacing can strengthen family wealth and contribute to sustainable development as it will give women the opportunity to complete their education, join the paid labour force and be more productive in their jobs to earn higher incomes and increase savings and investments into the family and society.
Family planning also prevents unintended pregnancies, it reduces the number of abortions and lower the incidences of death and disability related to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
According to Country Director of Pathfinder International, one of the key partners in family planning advocacy, Dr. Amina Aminu Dorayi family planning can reduce maternal mortality and child mortality significantly as high indices of such is a threat to national development.
The importance of family planning cannot be overemphasized as it helps protect women from any health risks that may occur before, during or after childbirth.
Apart from the health benefits of family planning in saving lives, it also saves money because every naira that is spent in reproductive health services more of it is saved in pregnancy related health care costs.Just as planning is needed in every spheres of life, so also family planning which includes childbirth spacing. So family planning has nothing to be scared about.
The report of a research conducted by an international organization known as “The Borgen Project”, says there are 59,000 maternal deaths annually in Nigeria compared to those in advanced nations.
Women in Nigeria are 500 times more likely to lose their lives in childbirth; this means that out of every 20 live births in Nigeria, there will be at least one case of maternal mortality, according to the report.
Also, a recent estimate by UNFPN partners says complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading killer of adolescent girls of age (15-19), it says their babies also face a higher risk of dying than the babies of older women.
Going by the above report, it’s glaring that there is need for massive awareness by the media on the need for people to embrace any of the childbirth spacing method in order to save lives and have a healthy society.
Sometimes people only think about the number of children they want to give birth to and the ability to give birth but forget about other responsibilities, such as feeding, housing, clothing, education etc.
It is advisable that the first important thing for couples or individuals to think of is the ability to care and look after the children properly.
One of the major challenges of Nigeria today is not unconnected to improper care and unprepared childbearing.
It is believed that if every family can give birth to children within the correct spacing period that can be cared for, the rate of out of school children, street begging, crime and other challenges in the society will reduce drastically.
The outcome of the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights, affirmed that “Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children” which is an affirmation that family planning is a human right.
The theme for the 2018 World Population Day further affirmed this by choosing “Family Planning is a Human Right” as it’s theme and tasking government to provide family planning commodities and make it accessible for all citizens.
Also, the Country Director of Pathfinder International, Dr. Amina Dorayi had expressed dissatisfaction with the 2022 national budget especially on Reproductive Health and demanded for the actualization of the Abuja declaration of 15% of the nation’s total budget to the health sector.
Thus, there is urgent need for government at all levels to create a budgetary line for family planning and ensure timely release of the funding to equip all healthcare facilities with the commodities and make it accessible for all.
In addition, the media, the civil society organization and all other stakeholders need to intensify awareness and advocacy in relation to family planning in order to build on the gains of reproductive health and sustainable development goal number 3, addressing Good Health and Well-being in Nigeria.
