A medic in Murang'a has called upon women to embrace long term family planning methods, as they are less demanding compared to short term methods.
The nurse manager at the Murang'a County Referral Hospital, Alice Gitahi, speaking at the facility during a free family planning and cervical cancer screening drive, noted that uptake of long term contraceptives has been lower than that of short term ones, mainly because of misconceptions. "We are educating our clients on the advantages of long term methods over short term measures, so that they can make informed choices," she said.
Gitahi noted that the short term methods are more demanding because the woman has to visit the clinic every month for the daily pills, or every three months for the Depo injection, while the long term methods, require the woman to visit the health facility less frequently. "The short term contraceptives may be cheaper to acquire one off, but are more expensive and time consuming in the long run because the woman has to come to the facility every month, or every three months for the medication," she stated. "With long term methods you come for checkup after one month, then after six months and once a year after that," she added.
Gitahi also explained that the hormonal content in short term contraceptives is higher, compared to long term contraceptives that release lower doses of hormones into the body over time.
