Mungule women hatch new family plan for 'overbearing' hubbies

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

When couples get married, they become one, literally meaning all decisions and plans made are done jointly and in consultation with each other. But, when it comes to matters of family planning, the women of Mungule have no say. The men plan the family and choose the kind of birth control method to use disregarding the women.

There is a case of a young woman in Mungule who had three children within a space of five years. She bore her first child at age 16. Before she turned 18 she had her second and the third one came when she was celebrating her 21^st birthday.

There are a lot other women who have similar situations of having that many unplanned children in the area.

During Alliance Zambia’s community dialogue at Mungule Rural Health Care, mothers aged between 17 and 43 testified that despite being the ones that carry the pregnancy, the decision of when to get pregnant was made by the husbands - many of whom unfortunately, have not embraced the different birth control methods available at health centres.

In areas like Mungule, the old belief that a man is defined by the number of children he has, still very much exists. Even when the man agrees to use condoms during the first few months after delivery, the rubber is put aside as soon as the child turns a year old. Thus many women find themselves pregnant soon after, as their spouses do not allow them to be on birth control.



One woman shared her that: “my husband demanded I get pregnant soon after my baby turned six months old. He said by the time I delivered, the child would be old enough to have a sibling. I insisted that we needed to wait until the baby was at least two years. He refused and threatened me with divorce. I got pregnant two months later and delivered my second child when my first born was 1 year 7 months.”

The consensus among the group was that given a choice, women would have preferred to have waited at least three years to allow for the proper growth of their children before getting pregnant again. They worried about their inability to provide their children with good nutrition and a good education.

Having realised the benefits of child spacing on the family, especially on the children, the women have taken a more aggressive approach to prevent further pregnancies.

They are now using different and discreet birth control methods without the knowledge of their spouses. Injectables, are quiet popular. Unlike contraceptive pills, the mothers say the possibility of the man finding out about the injections was zero.

One woman explained that for some who prefer contraceptive pills, they have devised interesting ways of ensuring that the tablets are well hidden from their husbands.

“I have dug a hole outside in the field. They are wrapped in a plastic bag just in case it rains. Sometimes it’s difficult to take the pill especially when he (husband) decides to stay home but most times I take them freely. I plan on telling him when the time is right. Maybe if he realises that I am not getting pregnant, he might accept that the six children we have are enough. Right now, we are struggling to feed, clothe and educate them,” she said.

And in Malupande Village, located about 4 kilometres from Mungule Rural Health Centre, the story was the same. The women, too, have had to find clever ways of keeping their husbands from finding out that they were using birth control.

They hide the contraceptive pills under rocks or with neighbours. Those afraid of being seen at the health centre, rely on a traditional herb called Nkankalamba, also popularly known as Kalulalula. The herb is soaked in water and the juice consumed soon after sexual intercourse.

While some women are willing to go to extremes to ensure they do not become pregnant, others have avoided using family planning methods because of the belief that they cause various tumours and diseases such as cancer. Others simply believe family planning methods as advocated at health centres do not work. Some of the mothers revealed having friends who got pregnant despite being on birth control.

But Isaac Phiri the facilitator of the dialogues from Bwafwano Integrated Services (BISO) advised the women to seek medical advice from trained health experts at clinics and also Neighbourhood Health Committees (NHCs).

He assured mothers that none of the family planning methods available at health centres caused tumours or different types of cancers as was the fear by some women.

Mr Phiri also warned the women against burying contraceptive pills in the ground as the temperature in the ground was likely to interfere with the effectiveness of the pill.

The community dialogue in Mungule was organised by the Alliance for Community Action on HIV and AIDS (Alliance Zambia), with support from Save the Children Sweden (SCS), under the project, “A Concern for All: Maternal and Child Health Interventions Towards 2015.” PYM

Have your say: Family planning is your choice!.

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

“Women must have the power to choose how many and when to have children” stated David Cameron, the British Prime Minister at the recent summit on Family Planning held in London.

Cameron believes that preventing women from making that choice compromises their chance of a better life in the future.

He added that “fewer children increase chances for better healthcare and better education for children…we know this works because smaller families are healthier and wealthier.”

Cameron’s call came with Britain’s pledge to double its budgetary support for family planning to Africa and other poor nations elsewhere.

While Cameron’s statement may sound empowering to most women, there are still growing concerns that side-effects, costs, ease of use, access and communication between couples often hinder the success of family planning methods.

In most African communities, negotiating for sex and the use of any planning methods remains a man’s prerogative. Only he has the final choice on how many children the couple should have. A woman’s role, unfortunately, still remain, to ensure that his wishes are followed.

Although traditionally women undergo initiation ceremonies where they are taught everything from how to look after a man to how to sexually satisfy him in bed once in marriage, they are not given the voice to negotiate for sex or the use of contraceptives.

Kyapa, an ardent follower on my blog added her voice saying "I strongly feel our culture in Zambia has betrayed the women and sentenced them to silence....!! The tradition tells a woman that they should do what the man says always......in the line of sex it in fact teaches the woman to be so submissive ......as in that is their role to please the opposite sex.

I feel we should then direct our sensitization to these women especially in rural areas were once they reach puberty these teachings are embedded in them. Surely and truly may we all women learn."

Meeting the current need for modern contraception would reduce pregnancy-related deaths by 79,000 in the developing world. Most of this reduction – a drop of 48,000 maternal deaths – would take place in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest levels of maternal mortality and unmet need for modern contraception.

The good news for Zambian women is that government at the same summit also announced that it had doubled its budgetary allocation in a bid to reach the vulnerable majority who needed these critical services.

Dr Joseph Katema, Zambia’s minister of Community Development, Mother and Child said that funding from government will be complimented by additional contributions from donors' “Family planning and commitments to increase the contraceptive coverage for modern methods have gone up from 33 percent to 58 percent.”

In a statement released by Amos Chanda, press secretary at the Zambian embassy in London, government’s approach to achieving this will be broken into three categories; policy changes, significant increase of financial resources allocation to family planning and improving delivery.

Government further intends to dialogue with stake holders in order to reach  the underserviced populations such as religious populations and traditional leaders, including its other departments in order to increase contraceptive coverage.

Melinda Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said the organisation plans to spend one billion dollars of aid money to help advance family planning services in poor countries especially among women and girls.

However, as government and various stakeholders continue to pump money to close gaps hindering family planning, there should be deliberate efforts made to communicate and ensure that women understand why it is important to have a say and control on how many children they should have.

An anonymous contributor wondered "why reproductive health is only taught in clinics and other counselling places. I suggest, churches, places of learning should all learn even at tender age. Imagine thinking its taboo talking about safe sex with your children and they get to learn from friends about unprotected sex, surely it doesn't pay."

"We have got to talk about it openly so that everyone can acquire this knowledge. My biggest problem is the NGOs who make all the noise but do very little in terms of educating men and women, the so called modest in rural areas."

"Their concentration has been on women when they are supposed to concentrate on men. We (men) need the data than our counterparts in skirts."

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director, Dr Babatunde Osotimehin noted that “as our numbers keep growing past 7 billion, and so many (people) suffer from poverty, poor health and lack of opportunities, it is more important than ever to ensure that every child is wanted and that everyone has the power and the right to manage their own fertility.”

And a recent study Adding It up: Costs and Benefits of Contraceptive Services- Estimates for 2012 released in June 2012, by the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the number of women with an unmet need for modern contraception increased in sub-Saharan Africa, from 31 million in 2008 to 36 million in 2012.

About 80 million unintended pregnancies will occur in 2012 in the developing world as a result of contraceptive failure and non-use among women who do not want a pregnancy soon.

The unintended pregnancies will result in 30 million unplanned births, 40 million abortions and 10 million miscarriages, the report stated. PYM