After her father died in 2021 from a sudden heart attack, Diana Mueni, 40, developed severe high blood pressure resulting in a dilemma on which family planning contraception method was best suitable for her.
A resident of the sprawling Kobil estate in Mukuru slums in Nairobi, Ms Mueni, a mother of four children says: “As the first-born child, I was very close to my father and his death really shocked me adversely affecting my health.
“As I struggled to overcome this loss, I developed high blood pressure complications which made me ineligible to access oral contraceptive pills (which was my preferred family planning method of choice),”.
Speaking during a recent interview held at Nairobi’s Mukuru health facility, Ms Mueni adds: “Initially, I was unaware that their were other family planning options apart from pills and Intrauterine devices (IUD’s.
“But after counseling by a competent team of health workers at this facility after my blood pressure had stabilised, I was introduced to range of short-term, long-term and permanent methods of
contraception…
“After consultation with my husband, we identified Bilateral tubal ligation (BTL)—which is a permanent contraception method, which was successfully undertaken with no side-effects occurring after the procedure was completed,”.
Earlier, Ms Mueni—who ekes a living by selling fruits and clothes—said she was eagerly looking forward to resuming her duties six months after her last born child was born.
She lauded Ms Patience Ruwa, a clinical officer (reproductive health) based at the Mukuru health facility who played a key role in counseling her and her husband in choosing BTL as her preferred family planning method of choice.
Ms Ruwa is among several health workers who have undergone through quality family planning training provided by experts drawn from Marie Stopes Kenya in a partnership with various public health facilities in several counties.
The initiative has resulted in the provision of quality family planning and sexual reproductive health
services to women, men and young girls in various counties.
According to Ms Ruwa, it is encouraging to witness many couples who are now embracing the various family planning methods on offer in public health facilities which include provision of male and female condoms, contraceptive pills, implant injectable, IUD (insertion and removal), tubal ligation and vasectomy.
“Currently, we are witnessing a tremendous uptake of both tubal ligation and vasectomy in our public health facilities in Nairobi following concerted mobilisation efforts by Marie Stopes staffers in various media outlets including social media which has sensitised many clients to seek the services,”, Ms Ruwa observed.
The clinical officer says according to 2023 data (June to December) some 221 and 138 clients underwent BTL and vasectomy procedures in Embakasi, Kahawa West and Mathare level three public health facilities in Nairobi.
According to the Ministry of Health, 6.5 million Kenyan women are currently using modern methods of contraception but the government has set an ambitious target to increase contraceptive uptake from 58 per cent to 64 per cent by 2030 a goal which will backed by a multi-sectoral commitment to improve access and affordability particularly among underserved population.
A Health Ministry official, Dr Estella Waiguru observes: “Family planning is not about controlling population—it is about empowering women to space their children and make informed reproductive health choice.
“As a ministry, we are focused on bringing services closer and enhancing method choice, especially in hard-to-reach areas,”.
Dr Waiguru, who is the Health Ministry’s reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health department Head, notes: “When women feel confident, informed and supported in their reproductive choices, we move closer to universal health coverage and improved maternal health outcomes,”.
At the same time, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2022), Kenya has seena significant increase in family planning uptake particularly among married women, with modern
contraceptive use rising from 32 per cent in 2003 to 57 per cent in 2022.
In the partnership between Marie Stopes Kenya and several public health facilities—women, men and young girls—are now able to access accurate information and safe, effective and acceptable contraception method of their choice such as BTL, vasectomy as well as post abortion care (PAC) services to those in dire need of emergency care.
According to experts, PAC is a package of life saving interventions that combines maternal healthcare including emergency treatment for complications of induced or spontaneous abortion with voluntary contraception counseling and service delivery.
