Contraception not just woman’s job

Speaking with the Newsday after yesterday’s lecture on gestational diabetes at the San Juan Health Centre, where recently appointed director of women’s health Dr Adesh Sirjusingh spoke on the issue, Deyalsingh said much pressure was being placed on women where contraception might be a non issue.

“I appreciate the unfair burden that is placed on women globally that they are the main primary caregiver. They breastfeed, they are the primary caregiver to this child and when these children grow up, they are the ones involved generally...it is women who have to manage the house, buy the groceries, go to the market, do the homework with children, cook, wash and iron and, very often, many of these women are single mothers.

“As a member of parliament I am so disappointed with the way men abdicate their responsibility to their women folk, their children and their families,” Deyalsingh said.

“I think it is important to give women some sort of redress in longterm contraception.” “Contraception is by and large the responsibility of the women.

Even if a man uses a condom, if the condom fails, who carries the burden? It is not the man, it’s the woman,” he added.

He said women car- ried an unusual burden with contraception which was why the Government was planning to bring in subdermal implants that could last for five years.

The implant is inserted in the arm.

“It has been used successfully in many parts of the world, so we are not asking our women to use any untested technology. This has been used around the world for decades, and we are now catching up to it,” Asked about the choice of a woman having tubal ligation, Sirjusingh said this was a personal choice.

“There may be clinical reasons to do so.

Somebody may have health issues and we may strongly recommend that pregnancy is not advised and they may seek something long term like tubal ligation,” he said.

Deyalsingh added there were risks for a mother after having three Caesarean sections.

“After three Caesarean sections you should have had your tubes tied because with every successive Caesarian, your chances of having a safe delivery decreases dramatically,” Deyalsingh said.

Questioned about women in the lower economic level having multiple children, Deyalsingh said it was all about education.

“We have to educate women in our lower socio-economic level because very often they are the ones with the large families they can’t support,” he said. “Contraception at those levels become important. When you have these families at the lower socio-economic level it more or less dooms that family to a life of poverty.

“Every cent that you earn has to go into minding these children and you can’t dedicate it to buying school books, a proper house, nutrition. So it is a self fulfilling prophecy when we have people in the lower socio-economic groups having large families. And that is something that we need to tackle so that people could have children and family sizes that are reasonable for their circumstance that they could support.”