Approximately 63 percent of sexually active Cameroonian women who want to avoid pregnancy do not have access to a modern form of contraception, according to a recently released report by the Guttmacher Institute and the French Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographiques (IFORD).
Around 6,000 Cameroonian women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. A tragic figure, representing the reality of living in a country with one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, with 782 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. But, according to the report, “Benefits of Meeting the Contraceptive Needs of Cameroonian Women,” nearly 30 percent of these women did not want to become pregnant in the first place.
Women cite several reasons for not using contraception, including the lack of adequately trained health care providers, frequent unavailability of contraceptive supplies, and limited choice of methods. As a result, they are at risk for unintended or mistimed pregnancies. The poorest women are especially at risk, with 90 percent of them at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. On average, the poorest women in Cameroon have two more children than they report wanting. These women are also the least likely to have access to quality obstetric care.
About 36 percent of unintended pregnancies in Cameroon end in abortion, but restrictions on the procedure force women to resort to clandestine, potentially lethal methods of abortion. However, according to the report, if the need for contraceptives for all women were met, there would be a 75 percent decrease in unplanned births, abortions and miscarriages. The lives of 1,300 women who die in pregnancy and childbirth would be saved each year, and there would be 13,000 fewer infant deaths annually. Additionally, each dollar spent on contraceptive services would save the Cameroon health system $1.23 on maternal and newborn care.
Globally, 529,000 women and girls die each year due to complications related to pregnancy. Millions more are left maimed or injured. In addition some 70,000 women and girls die annually from unsafe, often illegal, abortions. Although maternal deaths have dropped 45 percent since 1990, only 11 countries have reached their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality by 2015, and several countries – including the United States – actually saw their maternal mortality rates increase over the last decade.
Increased international funding for maternal health care and family planning that is inclusive of contraception and abortion is vital to reducing maternal mortality. To fully combat maternal death, however, governments everywhere need to take an even broader approach by empowering women and girls economically and socially, confronting sexual violence and conflict, providing comprehensive health care, ending child marriage and ensuring that girls everywhere have access to basic education.
Media resources: The Guttmacher Institute 7/29/14; Feminist Majority Foundation; Feminist Majority Foundation Blog 5/9/14; United Nations
