Lagos Island has embraced family planning—TCI mobilizers

It is now public that communities in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State have all embraced Family Planning as a deliberate birth control measure especially in the face of present economic realities.

This cheery news was made public by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) Mobilisers during a Family Planning Outreach at two major markets in the Lagos Island, Pelewura and Jankara markets on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

The Outreach was facilitated by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) an organization that is known for rapidly and sustainably scaling up proven reproductive health solutions among the urban poor, in conjunction with Oba Adeyinka Primary Health Centre (PHC).

Olowoporokun Silifat Abike, a Mobiliser for TCI in Lagos Island who spoke to Journalists disclosed how well- informed the communities in the area are about family planning. “We mobilize people for family planning and today we have been to Jankara Market, by 8 am we were there, now we are here in Pelewura Market to tell our people here what family planning is and how they can benefit from it. They know us that we are mobilisers and they have embraced family planning in the Island. Any time we need them they will answer us, anything we are doing in the community they would answer us. They listen to our message of family planning because it is for their own good.”

Another TCI Mobilizer, Idowu, also revealed their method of operation in order to convince the traders to embrace family planning. “What we do is to convince our people so that they will jettison all the biases they have, all the myths that they have; we tell them that there is nothing wrong with family planning. Although they have embraced this family planning so much that even when we are at our various homes, they come to us to take them to the clinic for the planning.”

She added that as a mobiliser she was satisfied with the number of the women who have listened to them and actually turning up at the clinic for their preferred family planning solution.

Idowu who stated that they have talked to more than 200 people at Jankara and Pelewura markets, continued “Family planning does not mean that you will not born again, but just for a while, and everything will be okay; father, mother, and children will be okay, because of what family planning has done for them, no unwanted pregnancy when you do the family planning. A family planning woman is an ever ready woman for her husband.”

Earlier Mrs Balogun Modinot Abolore, the Family Planning Manager for the local government said that the women who opted in for the Family Planning were referred to the Obadeyinka PHC to access the service and also because of privacy and confidentiality. “Those we saw early in the morning they opted in but they told us that they would not take anything now because they are fasting and the nurse working at Obadeyinka PHC is actually running a shift between now and tomorrow morning to be able to accommodate them. We are waiting for them but the few ones that are not fasting we have actually attended to them in the facility, that is how far we have gone for today.”

She disclosed some of the services available at the clinic “The mobilisers only went out with condoms, both men and female condoms and we demonstrated how to use them. We have the injectables, out of the injectables there is one the client can give to herself, it guarantees privacy and removes time wasting. We told them about other services, copper tea; that is the IUCD; all women know it as copper tea, the one they would insert inside the womb, and then we told them about the implant, the one you put into the hand; we have two of it, one for three years and another one for five years. We also talked about the pills. Some followed us just to take the pills.”

Also speaking on the success of the family planning outreach was the Family Planning Manager for Lagos Island, Oronugbo Ademodupe, she said, “Today is outreach for TCI, every month we supposed to do two In-reach and one outreach, the purpose is to meet women of childbearing age in order to curtail unwanted pregnancies. You know that poverty is in the land now. If you raise a number of children you cannot carter for, it is going to affect everybody, but through family planning you would be able to have a quality life.”

Speaking on her role in the exercise she said “Our work is demand generation, when you talk about demand generation, you know we have the demand side and supply side, demand is for you to create awareness that we are rendering so so and so service, you tell them the benefits and the importance, but the supply side is for the health providers. So I monitor the mobilizers, when they refer, the providers, that is the health facilities, they would explain better.”

A lady who simply gave her name as Moji, a satisfied user, said her husband worries her a lot, she disclosed that she did family planning because she was not ready to get another baby any time soon even though she said that she was doing the family planning with the consent of her husband. Moji has taken the injectable for three months twice and said she has not felt any side effects since she started taking the contraceptive.

Aminat, another young lady, a first timer disclosed that she wanted to do the family planning for her own benefit. She already has five children and she admitted that she has had enough children and can’t continue; adding that she was not with her husband and the decision to take the family planning was entirely hers.

Another young lady, Ogunteru Ayomide said she took three months family planning to prevent having unwanted pregnancy adding that the economy is harsh now. “The country as it is now is not easy giving birth anyhow, so you prevent it until you are ready to go for more children. I intend to have five children, I have three already but I want to give gap before I start again. There is no side effect and they told me at the clinic that if I should discover any abnormalities I should come and report to them.”

While encouraging other women to go for family planning Ayomide averred that family planning is the best option for a woman of childbearing age.Sofiat Rafiu, a widow and a satisfied user too, who spoke through an interpreter, said she did three years with injectable. She said she decided to do family planning when she lost her husband.

Asked if she would like to have more children she answered that she was yet to find another husband, adding that she has not seen any side effect, even though she still sees her circle but reported that it fluctuates, saying that with family planning she is enjoying herself.