Let's Wake Up!
There is a general myth that contraception refers to abortions or that an abortion is the main form of contraception. This, of course is not true. Contraception/family planning is prevention. These are methods to ensure that pregnancy does not happen. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy and till date is illegal except in certain circumstances. E.g. if the mother’s health is at risk. Anyone convicted of performing an abortion can be jailed for 14 years. Despite the law, abortions are routine in Nigeria. It’s hard to get accurate data because abortions are under reported . Estimates put it at about 610,000 abortions(25 per 1,000) yearly. About 40% of these are performed in clinics by physicians. The other 60% is by midwives, nurses, pharmacists and technicians. This leads to complications and these contribute to the high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria. The national mortality rate is 545 per 100,000 births but this is just an average. In the rural north-east, t...