Birth Control: Expert Urges Medical Advice

Consultant gynecolo
gist, Dr. Uranta Ferdinand has called on women to seek the proper advice of a medical professional in their choice of contraceptive (Birth Control) methods.
Ferdinand who made the call following the critical health condition of a woman diagnosed with a wrong choice of contraceptive told The Tide that choosing contraceptive method with out medical advice has an adverse health effects.
Ferdinand said “it is dangerous to choose a birth control method without proper medical advice. We don’t mean just meeting every  and any medical personnel but a professional in that field because a lot is involved and even more is that the choice depends on the medical history and health status of the individual, therefore it should not be taken for granted”.
He said that women with obesity or heart disease needed more proper counseling stating that some contraceptive methods could prove more harmful than imagined.
Ferdinand who noted that a large number of women use the implantable progesterone only as their method said however that the contraceptive should not be recommended for women who are overweight.
“The contraceptive that is good for women is actually individualised which calls for a thorough medical examination and a check of medical history. With this, the expert is guided on what contraceptive that is good, and for women who have some form of heart condition, you have to be careful in giving them the combined contraceptive which is estrogen and progesterone because of the effect it may have on the heart.
While listing some contraceptives often used to include the Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD), posterior, injectable contraceptive, deprofoveral among others, Ferdinand explained that the deprofoveral is a contraceptive that is implanted under the skin which he said can remain there for up to three years.
“The injectable ones is taken once in two or three months while the IUCD is inserted into the uterus which forms a physical barrier to pregnancy and does not distort the circle. However, those using the IUCD will experience complications such as pelvic pain, increased risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease. Sometimes this device can be dislodged or displaced in the uterus, it can puncture the uterus or even find its way to the abdomen itself. Though these complications are rare, they can still occur”.
The expert who noted that it takes the both partners to choose birth control and the method to be used said the best and non-complicated method for every type of woman was abstinence saying “the both had to agree not to have sex at the time of ovulation and this serves as the best control method”.
Some women who shared their experiences with The Tide affirmed the advice of the medical expert maintaining that formal education was not a yardstick for medical counseling on choice of contraceptive method as admitted by most women particularly in the rural areas.
Mrs. Roseline Wokoma, a 49 year old woman and mother of four children said “ignorance is the main cause. As a woman, it did not take formal education for you to get pregnant and even give birth and so, you don’t need it to get the right method to control your pregnancies. All you need to do is to meet a specialist who will conduct a test on you and give you the right method.  Especially with resident doctors in the local health centres, they will speak and act in the way you will understand and all you need to do is just to adhere to the rules”.
Chidimma Jonathan said “once you do not use the right method, there is bound to be a lot of discomforts and side effects which includes swollen stomach, hormonal imbalance, fatigue and some more serious ones depending on the one you used. Let us try and seek medical advice before venturing into it for our own good health.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu