Africa

Vanessa ten-Kate
Kelly Gough
Meredith Morris

Women’s Health In Nigeria

1. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and yet it has very few numbers of health centers. Most health facilities are understaffed and undersupplied.
2. 50% of Nigerian women say that they are victims of domestic abuse
3. Women need their husband’s permission to seek medical care, therefore, many women needing medical attention may not receive due to their husbands.
4. Engender Health is working to provide women with better health options and strives to make motherhood safer and expand contraceptive options.
5. More than half of Nigeria’s population is under the age of 20 and they face particular challenged and health risks.
6. 40% of girls will give birth before they turn 18 and at least 24% of girls have an abortion sometime during their adolescence.
7. Girl from the ages of 15 to 24 are twice as likely to be HIV-positive. HIV is one of the biggest threats to Nigerian women.
8. In Nigeria, a woman has a one in 18 lifetime risk of dying from complications of childbirth.
9. Many women suffer venereal diseases because they keep silent from fear of castigation, rejection, and shaming.
10. Women are frequently exposed to health hazards, including unsterilized instruments.


Binta Ahmed was a 28 year old woman who had five children. She was pregnant with her 6th child and had no need to fear any complications. However, when she started labor in her home it was obvious something was wrong. It took 7 days of painful labor before she finally gave birth to a dead baby. This complicated labor left Binta in extremely poor health, however, the closest hospital took 2 days to reach. Binta suffered the long journey to the hospital and finally received some medical attention. Doctors diagnosed an obstetric fistula, an injury, where the pressures of childbirth leads to a hole - or fistula - between the bladder or rectum. Due to the condition she was in when she arrived to the hospital, the surgeons had to wait 3 months before operating on Binta. It took her several more months after the surgery to recover. One person described women with Binta’s condition as “dead women walking: physically, socially and psychologically. Many of them lose their babies in childbirth and have no hope of having another.” This story shows how the lack of competent and accessible medical facilities has a huge negative effect on the health of women in Nigeria.


Quote:
"Once a woman is married, she is expected to endure whatever she meets in her matrimonial home,"
-human rights group Amnesty International today.


Organizations working for change:
Amnesty International Today
Engender Health

Websites we like:
http://www.iheu.org/node/979

http://www.postcolonialweb.org/nigeria/contwomen.html

Contraception

Michael Colucci, Megan Willis, Jennifer Brigle

Ten Interesting Facts:

1. 53% of women who have unintended pregnancies were using a form of contraception
2. 48% of women between the ages of 15-44 years old have experienced an unintended pregnancy
3. 1/3rd of maternal deaths and illnesses can be prevented if women have access to contraception
4. In 1995, 2.7 million women experienced an unintended pregnancy in the United States
5. Male sterilization, or a vasectomy, is the most effective type of modern contraception.
6. Without contraception, the average woman would have 12 to 15 pregnancies throughout her lifetime.
7. Children of unexpected pregnancies are at greater risk for being born at low birth weight, dying in the first year of life, being abused, and having developmental disabilities than children of expected pregnancies.
8. In the United States, an estimated 34.5 million women are in need of contraceptive services and supplies.
9. Access to family planning services that include testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases can help prevent adverse reproductive health outcomes such as ectopic pregnancy, sterility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and HIV transmission.
10. Nationally, every dollar spent on family planning services saves $3 in Medicaid costs that would have been spent on pre-natal and newborn care.

Websites We like:

www.gynob.com

www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control-4211.htm

www.contracept.org















Story:

Leah's Story

I had an abortion just a few hours ago, and I've been waiting until now to share my story. I am happily married and was off the pill for a year and half in hopes to conceive a baby with my husband. Six weeks ago, I got pregnant, after making the bad choice to sleep with another man. I use the word choice, not mistake, because it was definitely a choice that I made. And one that I will forever regret. The man I had the affair with is happily married as well. You might be asking, Why do two happily married people risk everything for sex? Because we were horny and stupid. That's it.

I am excited to begin a family with my husband, which is why my decision to have an abortion was so difficult. I knew I could not tell my husband the truth about the affair. It would have destroyed my marriage. And I would not deceive him for life by having the child and pretending that he is the father. The other man has a great life, as well, and neither of us wanted to hurt our families.

I believe I have lived a lifetime of emotions in that last 4 weeks. I believe that what I did today was selfish and wrong. I paid someone $400 to kill my baby this morning. Abortion was the easy way out. If I had any character at all, I would have told the truth, had the baby, and dealt with the consequences. Instead of doing the right thing, I did the best thing. Having the abortion saved my marriage. And now I know I can get on with my life.

This is a secret that will go to the grave with me. I have asked God to forgive me. I know that he has.

As I looked around the room at the faces of the other 18 women getting abortions this morning, I couldn't help but feel sad. None of those women wanted to be there. None of those women wanted to kill their babies. We were all looking for that second chance to make things right in our lives again. I believe I got a second chance today. And I will never break my vows of marriage again.

Leah
15 January 1999

Meaningful Quotes:

No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother. ~Margaret Sanger

Condoms aren't completely safe. A friend of mine was wearing one and got hit by a bus. ~Bob Rubin

A crying baby is the best form of birth control. ~Carole Tabron

Organization Working for Change:

The ACQUIRE project – they advanced and supported the availability, quality, and
use of facility-based reproductive health and family planning services at every
level of the health care system and strengthened links between facilities and
communities.
The RESPOND project - expands family planning services and improves reproductive
health in developing countries.
Louisiana Family Planning Project – their goal is to provide basic reproductive
health services and education to all females and males regardless of
socio-economic status, especially to those with the most need.

Questions:

Q: Without protection, how many pregnancies would a single woman have in her
lifetime?
A: Twelve to fifteen pregnancies.

Q: What percent of women between the ages of 15-44 have experienced an
unintended pregnancy?
A: 48%