Healthy Families, Brighter Futures Family Planning

I am happy to share with you what Karin Health Centres are doing in their endeavours to transform lives in this community. May is the rainy season. This explains why we have a rise in the number of malaria cases. The roads are muddy and wet, but this does not affect the peoples’ spirit to work. The health staffs continue serving the patients that visit the clinics with unwavering hard work.  The support of our health centres by all well-wishers is helping to transform many people’s lives.

The population of Uganda is growing at 3.2% per year. At this rate the population will double in 20 years.  This high growth rate is attributed mostly to high fertility which is currently standing at 6.7 children per woman, one of the highest in the world.  This high rate has negative health impact on the women and the children.  The frequent and high risk pregnancies and especially teenage pregnancies are the major contributors to reproductive stress which leads to high rates of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.

For Benna, the clinical officer, training with Marie Stopes International has given her confidence to family planning treatment. When she was visited by Grace and her husband Ronald, she was happy to explain to them the different contraceptive options available. Grace has five children; they are already feeling the burden of looking after a large family including other dependants. They discussed the possibility of family planning so that they can look after their children and send them to school. She is glad that her husband was very understanding. He was happy to go with her to the clinic. In Uganda, only 48% of the married women have spousal approval to use family planning.

Our collaborations with the community health workers is bringing in positive change. The number of clients seeking family planning services is rising steadily.

Family planning is a cost effective means to lower maternal mortality rates because it reduces the risk of exposure to pregnancy and death; reducing the incidence of abortion by averting unwanted and unplanned pregnancies; and by averting pregnancies that occur too early, too late or too frequently during the woman’s reproductive cycle, and those that are inadequately spaced.

So for Benna and the health team, they are always glad to see when  a couple visits the clinic for such services.

We are seeking for your continued support towards this program, for many families who burdened with large famlies and no means of supportin them, we need to reach out to them. Your contiued support towards training more health workers, community health workers is always a great blessing.

We thank you you for supporting this program.

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