Children by Choice not Chance


Being the only girl raised alongside six other children, I know how it feels to lack very essential things like sanitary towels. Let’s say I come from a home where eating once a day was a blessing and that’s why my heart went out to this young girl asking for money to get herself a sanitary towel. Coincidentally, she is also the only girl child amongst seven children and lives in a community where everyone had not less than five children. 

According to this new friend of mine, her parents along with other adults in the community believed children are as a blessing and that they have been told to “multiply the earth like the sand at the sea shore”, thus gave birth to as many as they could. This young girl was crying and blaming her parents for how unkept and frustrated she was because they could not afford their basic needs and her sibling’s age differences were so close that looking at the family, one might think her parents actually had three twins. The question I keep asking myself is that, “should we keep on telling ourselves that children are a blessing and so childbirth should continue without any planning for the lives of these people who are brought into this world?”

It is very salient to note that in as much as children are a blessing, each parent is accountable for the upbringing of the child and that is why there is the need for a family plan to sustain and provide adequately for the children we bring on the planet. One would ask, “is it really necessary for my partner and I to plan the number of children and their age spacing?” “Is that also my responsibility as an incoming parent?” Yes! It is. 

This is because, planning a family does not prevent you from giving birth to the number of children you want to. Rather, it helps give you a fair idea of when you want to give birth to your children and how prepared you will be financially, mentally and physically to receive them. Spacing out your children in the process of planning your family is very necessary as it helps the mother regain her strength after childbirth whiles giving the parents adequate space and time to take care of the new born baby at least to a point until another child comes in.

The next question will obviously be, “what are the family planning options available for myself and partner?” There are a varied options of family planning which includes daily oral pills, injectable, implant, Intra Uterine Devices, male sterilization (vasectomy) and female sterilization (tubal litigation). It should be noted that Emergency contraceptives are not a family planning method. As the name implies, it should be taken only when sexual emergencies like Rape occur to prevent unintended pregnancies.

 Not only does Family planning benefit you and your partner but it goes a long way to benefit the country as a whole. How? When you give birth to the number of children you can adequately cater for, there is less pressure on social amenities like hospitals, schools etc. and this helps in delivering quality services as less people will be dependent on the available resources. 

However, when people keep giving birth without planning, it brings about unintended pregnancies that leads to streetism, poor healthcare and educational services, upsurge in social vices and last but not least, pressure on social amenities. That is why as we celebrate World Population Day on the 11th of July, it is important for you to take a break and think about your contribution to how we can judiciously manage the nation's population according to the resources available to the nation. 

World Population Day is not just about the number of people. It is celebrated so that as a nation we can reflect on the impact of population on issues like gender equality, poverty, human rights and most importantly, family planning and maternal health. As a woman, your health matters and so does the number of children you bring forth matter to the progress of the economy and global world. Remember, we are all accountable for the children we bring forth. Let’s decide to have children by choice not by chance. 

Happy World Population Day!!

Join in on the twitter chat happening today being hosted by the national population council with the theme, “Putting the breaks on COVID, how to safeguard the health and rights of women and girls in Ghana” on their twiitter handle @npcofficial1

Follow the Mariestopes Ghana Social media platforms for further engagements 
Facebook- Marie Stopes Ghana
Instagram- @mariestopes_ghana
Twitter- @MarieStopes_Gh


Call us for FREE on 0800208585 OR send us a WhatsApp message on 0556489090 to know more.
#ChoiceNotChance
#Youth4Choice


CREDIT: Patience Ampomah. (YAB member)

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