Today's prompt reminds me of the period I always took my child for immunization at my community health center and a scene unfolded while we were receiving lectures from the nurses and midwives on how to care for our newborn and also the need for child spacing for the sake of our health and also having the capability and time to care for our children properly, as it is a necessary part of the incentives by the government to educate newborn mothers on the benefits of family planning and also provide some for free based on the option suitable for your body and health, or just your personal preferences

While the lecture was ongoing, a woman who felt offended by the topic and also happens to be the mother of one of the new moms who had accompanied her newborn grandchild to get immunized, spoke angrily about her ugly experience with using birth control and how it almost killed her due to excess bleeding, that single statement, made some mothers who were already thinking of opting for one quickly change their mind for the fear of becoming a victim of an unfortunate experience like the elderly woman. If not for the intelligent midwife who handled the situation wisely and actually elaborated more in layman's terms for more understanding, stating the reasons why the woman had that experience, which was more about body and hormone-related, and extended more about the risk of opting for one of the birth control methods one by one and also the disadvantage of not planning your family.

By the end of that extensive lecture, the women were more aware and even the elder woman was very appreciative of the midwife for her calm demeanor and for taking the time to clear their ignorance on the topic, that was the day I felt the impact of our government playing a vital role in making sure that women are aware, clearing ignorance and fear also going ahead to provide we women with free medical care in terms of birth control.

Living in a country like mine, Birth control and family planning topic can be complex for different reasons, including, religion, education level, socioeconomic status, and geographical location, etc Giving birth to many children is seen as a blessing, which actually it is, but only when we have the capacity, financially, and mentally to care for that number of children. Those days, our forefathers pride themselves on the number of children they had, only for them to scatter them on a large piece of land, which was their only source Of livelihood, there was nothing like schooling for them, and most of them grew up as illiterates, neither skilled, rather than add to the economy positively, they become a burden. Now things have changed, every child deserves to go to school, enjoy their childhood, and be taken proper care of, even women are no longer housewives who are dependent on their husbands, gone are those days, and the present economic situation of the country, wouldn't even let you relax because hunger will come knocking, the more reason why every family needs to plan the number of children they can raise properly, and live a comfortable life, instead of bringing more kids to the world and leave them to suffer. We've seen this played out for decades, it's time we all become aware of this knowledge and hopefully, the future generation won't go through the hardship we currently face.

Government Stance and Initiatives

Luckily for us, because our government is blind to a lot of things, but so far, they recognized the importance of family planning in national development, and in recent years, there have been increased efforts to promote family planning as a way to improve maternal and child health, reduce poverty, and manage population growth.

And I have also experienced this firsthand and been a partaker of the effort provided by the government, even in my local community, as you have read in my introduction. So far the family planning offers I've seen provided include; Oral Contraceptives (Birth Control Pills): which can be easily gotten from pharmacies across the nation, injectable contraceptives, IUDs, Condoms, Implants, also natural family planning methods are encouraged as well, etc.

Although some Nigerians still face challenges in accessing these birth control knowledge and options due to their location, especially the rural areas, the cost of getting some is also an issue, some cultures, and religions are still strongly against the use of birth control with some myths and misconceptions being a further barrier

However, the aspect of family planning is increasing in acknowledgment in my country. Numerous non-governmental organizations are actively involved in procedures aiming at expanding access to family planning services and information alongside the government.

Education is also considered important in this process. Presently, there are continued efforts to incorporate sex education in school curricula and to scale up community education for the public adults. These programs have the objective of combating myths, raising awareness of the proper information, and encouraging people to make the right decisions regarding their reproductive health.

There is also growing attention to male involvement in family planning talks. Since in many Nigerian family settings, the man makes the important decisions. There are also TV commercials that help spread this awareness.

In Conclusion, I believe that we will soon overcome the challenges of overpopulation, also a decrease rate of maternal and infant deaths rate, and hopefully, our economy will experience a balance, because compared to our forefathers, people are gradually seeing the light and the need to control their birth rate, if the government continues in it's effort, progress is certain.

This post is inspired by the #Augustinleo monthly topics, day 6, check it out and be inspired.

Image 1 is edited on canva, Image 2 is mine.

Thank you for reading.❤❤